A large earthquake occurred 75 miles to the south of Chignik at 10:13 pm on Tuesday night prompting a widespread tsunami alert throughout south-central Alaska, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Aleutian Chain. The earthquake was updated to 7.8 magnitude from the initial report of 7.4. Aftershocks continued in the Alaska Peninsula area and by […]
HONOLULU—The reality of rising sea levels caused by climate change means many coastal communities and island nations are vulnerable to tsunamis. The U.S. island state of Hawaii is vulnerable to tsunamis and is in the forefront of preparations for a tidal wave. But the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan led Hawaii officials to […]
In spring of 1946, five men stationed at the Scotch Cap lighthouse had reasons to be happy. World War II was over. They had survived. Their lonely Coast Guard assignment on Unimak Island would be over in a few months. But the lighthouse tenders would never return to their homes in the Lower 48. In […]
On April 1, 1946, the sea floor ruptured just south of Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands. Seawater displaced by the giant earthquake sent a 100-foot wave into the Scotch Cape lighthouse on Unimak, destroying the concrete structure and killing the five men inside. They never knew what hit them in the 2 a.m. darkness. […]