The highest wave in the world. The biggest tsunami in the world

: “When I read about the wave height caused by the tsunami in 1958, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I checked it once, twice. It's the same everywhere. No, they probably made a mistake with the comma, and everyone is copying each other. Or maybe in units of measurement?

Well, how else, what do you think, could there be a wave from a tsunami 524 meters high? HALF A KILOMETER!

Now we will find out what really happened there.”

Here's what an eyewitness writes:

“After the first shock, I fell out of bed and looked towards the beginning of the bay, where the noise was coming from. The mountains trembled terribly, stones and avalanches rushed down. And the glacier in the north was especially striking; it is called the Lituya glacier. It is usually not visible from where I was anchored. People shake their heads when I tell them that I saw him that night. I can't help it if they don't believe me. I know that the glacier is not visible from where I was anchored in Anchorage Bay, but I also know that I saw it that night. The glacier rose into the air and moved forward until it became visible.

He must have risen several hundred feet. I'm not saying it was just hanging in the air. But he was shaking and jumping like crazy. Large pieces of ice fell from its surface into the water. The glacier was six miles away, and I saw large chunks falling off it like a huge dump truck. This continued for some time - it is difficult to say how long - and then suddenly the glacier disappeared from view and a large wall of water rose above this place. The wave went in our direction, after which I was too busy to say what else was happening there.”

On July 9, 1958, an unusually severe disaster occurred in Lituya Bay in southeastern Alaska. In this bay, which extends more than 11 km into the land, geologist D. Miller discovered a difference in the age of trees on the hillside surrounding the bay. From tree rings, he estimated that the bay had experienced waves with maximum heights of several hundred meters at least four times in the last 100 years. Miller's conclusions were viewed with great distrust. And then on July 9, 1958, a strong earthquake occurred on the Fairweather fault north of the bay, causing the destruction of buildings, the collapse of the coast, and the formation of numerous cracks. And a huge landslide on the mountainside above the bay caused a wave of record height (524 m), which swept through the narrow, fjord-like bay at a speed of 160 km/h.

Lituya is a fjord located on the Fairweather fault in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is a T-shaped bay 14 kilometers long and up to three kilometers wide. The maximum depth is 220 m. The narrow entrance to the bay is only 10 m deep. Two glaciers descend into Lituya Bay, each of which is about 19 km long and up to 1.6 km wide. During the century preceding the events described, waves over 50 meters high had already been observed in Lituya several times: in 1854, 1899 and 1936.

The 1958 earthquake caused a subaerial rockfall at the mouth of the Gilbert Glacier in Lituya Bay. This landslide caused more than 30 million cubic meters of rock to fall into the bay and create a megatsunami. This disaster killed 5 people: three on Hantaak Island and two more were washed away by a wave in the bay. In Yakutat, the only permanent settlement near the epicenter, infrastructure was damaged: bridges, docks and oil pipelines.

After the earthquake, a study was carried out of a subglacial lake located northwest of the bend of the Lituya Glacier at the very beginning of the bay. It turned out that the lake dropped by 30 meters. This fact served as the basis for another hypothesis of the formation of a giant wave more than 500 meters high. Probably, during the glacier's descent, a large volume of water entered the bay through an ice tunnel under the glacier. However, the runoff of water from the lake could not be the main cause of the megatsunami.

A huge mass of ice, stones and earth (volume of about 300 million cubic meters) rushed down from the glacier, exposing the mountain slopes. The earthquake destroyed numerous buildings, cracks appeared in the ground, and the coastline slid. The moving mass fell on the northern part of the bay, filled it up, and then crawled onto the opposite slope of the mountain, tearing off the forest cover from it to a height of more than three hundred meters. The landslide generated a giant wave that literally swept Lituya Bay towards the ocean. The wave was so great that it swept entirely over the entire sandbank at the mouth of the bay.

Eyewitnesses to the disaster were people on board the ships that dropped anchor in the bay. The terrible shock threw them all out of their beds. Jumping to their feet, they could not believe their eyes: the sea rose. “Giant landslides, raising clouds of dust and snow in their path, began to run along the slopes of the mountains. Soon their attention was attracted by an absolutely fantastic sight: the mass of ice of the Lituya glacier, located far to the north and usually hidden from view by the peak that rises at the entrance to the bay, seemed to rise above the mountains and then majestically collapsed into the waters of the inner bay.

It all seemed like some kind of nightmare. Before the eyes of the shocked people, a huge wave rose up and swallowed the foot of the northern mountain. After that, she swept across the bay, tearing trees off the mountain slopes; falling like a water mountain onto the island of Cenotaph... rolled over the highest point of the island, rising 50 m above sea level. This entire mass suddenly plunged into the waters of the narrow bay, causing a huge wave, the height of which apparently reached 17-35 m. Its energy was so great that the wave rushed furiously across the bay, sweeping the slopes of the mountains. In the inner basin, the impact of the waves on the shore was probably very strong. The slopes of the northern mountains facing the bay were bare: where there had once been dense forest there were now bare rocks; This pattern was observed at altitudes of up to 600 meters.

One longboat was lifted high, easily carried across the sandbar and dropped into the ocean. At that moment, when the longboat was carried over the sandbank, the fishermen on it saw standing trees beneath them. The wave literally threw people across the island into the open sea. During a nightmare ride on a giant wave, the boat pounded against trees and debris. The longboat sank, but the fishermen miraculously survived and were rescued two hours later. Of the other two longboats, one safely withstood the wave, but the other sank, and the people on it went missing.

Miller found that the trees growing at the upper edge of the exposed area, just below 600 m above the bay, were bent and broken, their fallen trunks pointing towards the top of the mountain, but the roots were not torn from the soil. Something pushed these trees up. The enormous force that accomplished this could not have been anything other than the top of a gigantic wave that swept over the mountain on that July evening in 1958.”

Mr. Howard J. Ulrich, in his yacht, which is called "Edri", entered the waters of Lituya Bay about eight in the evening and anchored in nine meters of water in a small cove on the southern shore. Howard says that suddenly the yacht began to rock violently. He ran out onto the deck and saw how in the northeastern part of the bay the rocks began to move due to the earthquake and a huge block of rock began to fall into the water. About two and a half minutes after the earthquake, he heard a deafening sound from the destruction of rock.

“We definitely saw that the wave came from Gilbert Bay, just before the earthquake ended. But at first it was not a wave. At first it was more like an explosion, as if the glacier was splitting into pieces. The wave grew from the surface of the water, at first it was almost invisible, who would have thought that then the water would rise to a height of half a kilometer.”

Ulrich said that he observed the entire process of development of the wave, which reached their yacht in a very short time - something like two and a half to three minutes from the time it could first be noticed. “Since we didn’t want to lose the anchor, we pulled out the entire anchor chain (about 72 meters) and started the engine. Halfway between the northeastern edge of Lituya Bay and Cenotaf Island, a thirty-meter-high wall of water could be seen that stretched from one shore to the other. When the wave approached the northern part of the island, it split into two parts, but after passing the southern part of the island, the wave became one again. It was smooth, only there was a small ridge on top. When this mountain of water approached our yacht, its front was quite steep and its height was from 15 to 20 meters.

Before the wave arrived at the place where our yacht was located, we did not feel any drop in the water or other changes, with the exception of a slight vibration that was transmitted through the water from the tectonic processes that began to operate during the earthquake. As soon as the wave approached us and began to lift our yacht, the anchor chain crackled violently. The yacht was carried towards the southern shore and then, on the reverse course of the wave, towards the center of the bay. The top of the wave was not very wide, from 7 to 15 meters, and the trailing front was less steep than the leading one.

As the giant wave swept past us, the surface of the water returned to its normal level, but we could see a lot of turbulence around the yacht, as well as random waves six meters high that moved from one side of the bay to the other. These waves did not create any noticeable movement of water from the mouth of the bay to its northeastern part and back.”

After 25-30 minutes the surface of the bay calmed down. Near the banks one could see many logs, branches and uprooted trees. All this rubbish slowly drifted towards the center of Lituya Bay and towards its mouth. In fact, during the entire incident, Ulrich did not lose control of the yacht. When the Edri approached the entrance to the bay at 11 pm, a normal current could be observed there, which is usually caused by the daily ebb of ocean water.

Other eyewitnesses to the disaster, the Swenson couple on a yacht called the Badger, entered Lituya Bay around nine in the evening. First, their ship approached Cenotaf Island, and then returned to Anchorage Bay on the northern shore of the bay, not far from its mouth (see map). The Svensons anchored at a depth of about seven meters and went to bed. William Swenson's sleep was interrupted by strong vibrations from the yacht's hull. He ran to the control room and began to time what was happening.

A little over a minute after William first felt the vibration, and probably just before the end of the earthquake, he looked towards the northeastern part of the bay, which was visible against the backdrop of Cenotaph Island. The traveler saw something that he initially mistook for the Lituya glacier, which rose into the air and began to move towards the observer. “It seemed like this mass was solid, but it jumped and swayed. Large pieces of ice were constantly falling into the water in front of this block.” After a short time, “the glacier disappeared from sight, and instead of it a large wave appeared in that place and went in the direction of the La Gaussi spit, just where our yacht was anchored.” In addition, Svenson noticed that the wave flooded the shore at a very noticeable height.

When the wave passed Cenotaf Island, its height was about 15 meters in the center of the bay and gradually decreased near the shores. She passed the island approximately two and a half minutes after she was first seen, and reached the yacht Badger another eleven and a half minutes (approximately). Before the wave arrived, William, like Howard Ulrich, did not notice any drop in water level or any turbulent phenomena.

The yacht "Badger", which was still at anchor, was lifted by a wave and carried towards the La Gaussie spit. The stern of the yacht was below the crest of the wave, so that the position of the vessel resembled a surfboard. Svenson looked at that moment at the place where the trees growing on the La Gaussy spit should have been visible. At that moment they were hidden by water. William noted that above the tops of the trees there was a layer of water equal to approximately two times the length of his yacht, about 25 meters.

Having passed the La Gaussi spit, the wave subsided very quickly. In the place where Swenson's yacht was moored, the water level began to drop, and the ship hit the bottom of the bay, remaining afloat not far from the shore. 3-4 minutes after the impact, Swenson saw that water continued to flow over the La Gaussie Spit, carrying logs and other debris from forest vegetation. He wasn't sure it wasn't a second wave that could have carried the yacht across the spit into the Gulf of Alaska. Therefore, the Swenson couple left their yacht, moving onto a small boat, from which they were picked up by a fishing boat a couple of hours later.

There was a third vessel in Lituya Bay at the time of the incident. It was anchored at the entrance to the bay and was sunk by a huge wave. None of the people on board survived; two were believed to have died.

What happened on July 9, 1958? That evening, a huge rock fell into the water from a steep cliff overlooking the northeastern shore of Gilbert Bay. The collapse area is marked in red on the map. The impact of an incredible mass of stones from a very high altitude caused an unprecedented tsunami, which wiped out from the face of the earth all life that was located along the entire coast of Lituya Bay right up to the La Gaussi spit.

After the wave passed along both shores of the bay, there was not only no vegetation left, but even no soil; there was bare rock on the surface of the shore. The damaged area is shown in yellow on the map. The numbers along the shore of the bay indicate the height above sea level of the edge of the damaged land area and approximately correspond to the height of the wave that passed here.

Tsunamis have been a nightmare for island residents throughout the centuries. These multi-meter waves with enormous destructive force swept away everything in their path, leaving behind only bare earth and debris. Scientists have been keeping statistics on monstrous waves since the nineteenth century; during this period, more than a hundred tsunamis of varying power were recorded. Do you know what the biggest tsunamis in the world were?

Tsunami: what is it?

It is not surprising that the term “tsunami” was first introduced by the Japanese. They suffered from giant waves more often than anyone, because the Pacific Ocean generates the largest number of destructive waves than all other seas and oceans combined. This is due to the topography of the ocean floor and the high seismicity of the region. In Japanese, the word "tsunami" consists of two characters meaning flood and wave. Thus, the very meaning of the phenomenon is revealed - a wave in the bay, sweeping away all life on the coast.

When was the first tsunami recorded?

Of course, people have always suffered from tsunamis. Ordinary island residents came up with their own names for rogue waves and believed that the gods of the seas were punishing people by sending destructive waves at them.

The first tsunami was officially recorded and explained at the end of the sixteenth century. This was done by the monk of the Jesuit church, Jose de Acosta, he was in Peru when a wave about twenty-five meters high hit the shore. It swept away all the settlements around in a few seconds and moved ten kilometers deep into the continent.

Tsunami: causes and consequences

Tsunamis are most often caused by earthquakes and underwater volcanic eruptions. The closer the earthquake epicenter is to the coast, the stronger the rogue wave will be. The largest tsunamis in the world that have been recorded by mankind could reach speeds of up to one hundred and sixty kilometers per hour and exceed three hundred meters in height. Such waves leave no chance of survival for any living creature caught in their path.

If we consider the nature of this phenomenon, then it can be briefly explained as the simultaneous displacement of a large amount of water masses. Eruptions or earthquakes raise the ocean floor sometimes by several meters, which causes water vibrations and forms several waves diverging from the epicenter in different directions. Initially, they do not represent something terrible and deadly, but as they approach the shore, the speed and height of the wave increases, and it turns into a tsunami.

In some cases, tsunamis are formed as a result of giant landslides. During the twentieth century, about seven percent of all gigantic waves arose for this reason.

The consequences of the destruction left behind by the world's largest tsunami are terrible: thousands of casualties and hundreds of kilometers of land filled with debris and mud. In addition, in the disaster area there is a high probability of the spread of infectious diseases due to a lack of drinking water and rotting bodies of the dead, the search for which is not always possible to organize in the shortest possible time.

Tsunami: is it possible to escape?

Unfortunately, the global warning system for a possible approaching tsunami is still imperfect. In the best case, people become aware of the danger a few minutes before the wave hits, so it is necessary to know the signs of impending trouble and the rules of survival during a cataclysm.

If you are on the sea or ocean coast, then carefully monitor earthquake reports. A shaking of the earth's crust with a magnitude of about seven on the Richter scale that occurred somewhere nearby can serve as a warning of a possible tsunami strike. The approach of a rogue wave is signaled by a sudden low tide - the ocean floor is quickly exposed for several kilometers. This is a clear sign of a tsunami. Moreover, the further the water goes, the stronger and more destructive the arriving wave will be. Animals often anticipate such natural disasters: a few hours before the cataclysm, they whine, hide, and try to go deeper into the island or mainland.

To survive a tsunami, you need to leave the dangerous area as soon as possible. Do not take a lot of things with you; drinking water, food and documents will be enough. Try to move as far away from the coast as possible or climb onto the roof of a multi-story building. All floors after the ninth are considered safe.

If the wave does overtake you, then find an object that you can hold on to. According to statistics, most people die when the wave begins to return back to the ocean and carries away all the objects it comes across. Keep in mind that a tsunami almost never ends in one wave. Most often, the first one will be followed by a series of two or even three new ones.

So, when were the biggest tsunamis in the world? And how much destruction did they cause?

This disaster does not fit any of the previously described incidents on the sea coast. To date, the megatsunami in Lituya Bay has become the largest and most destructive in the world. Until now, eminent luminaries in the field of oceanology and seismology are arguing about the possibility of repeating such a nightmare.

Lituya Bay is located in Alaska and extends eleven kilometers inland, its maximum width does not exceed three kilometers. Two glaciers descend into the bay, which became the unwitting creators of a huge wave. The 1958 tsunami in Alaska was caused by an earthquake that occurred on July 9th. The power of the shocks exceeded eight points, which caused a huge landslide into the waters of the bay. Scientists estimate that thirty million cubic meters of ice and stones fell into the water in a few seconds. Parallel to the landslide, the subglacial lake sank thirty meters, from which released water masses rushed into the bay.

A huge wave rushed onto the coast and circled the bay several times. The height of the tsunami wave reached five hundred meters, the raging elements completely demolished the trees on the rocks along with the soil. This wave is currently the highest in human history. An amazing fact is that only five people died as a result of the powerful tsunami. The fact is that there are no residential settlements in the bay; at the time the wave arrived in Lituya there were only three fishing boats. One of them, along with the crew, immediately sank, and the other was lifted by a wave to its maximum height and carried out into the ocean.

Indian Ocean avalanche 2004

The 2004 Thailand tsunami shocked everyone on the planet. As a result of the destructive wave, more than two hundred thousand people died. The cause of the disaster was an earthquake in the Sumatra region on December 26, 2004. The tremors lasted no more than ten minutes and exceeded nine points on the Richter scale.

A thirty-meter wave swept with great speed throughout the Indian Ocean and went around it, stopping near Peru. Almost all island countries were affected by the tsunami, including India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Somalia.

Having killed several hundred thousand people, the 2004 tsunami in Thailand left behind destroyed homes, hotels and several thousand local residents who died as a result of infections and poor-quality drinking water. At the moment, this tsunami is considered the largest in the twenty-first century.

Severo-Kurilsk: tsunami in the USSR

The list of “The largest tsunamis in the world” must include the wave that hit the Kuril Islands in the middle of the last century. An earthquake in the Pacific Ocean caused a twenty-meter wave. The epicenter of the earthquake with a magnitude of seven was located one hundred and thirty kilometers from the coast.

The first wave arrived in the city about an hour later, but most local residents were in shelter on higher ground away from the city. No one warned them that a tsunami was a series of waves, so all the townspeople returned to their homes after the first one. A few hours later, the second and third waves hit Severo-Kurilsk. Their height reached eighteen meters, they almost completely destroyed the city. More than two thousand people died as a result of the cataclysm.

Rogue wave in Chile

In the second half of the last century, Chileans faced a terrifying tsunami that killed more than three thousand people. The cause of the giant waves was the most powerful earthquake in the history of mankind, its magnitude exceeded nine and a half points.

A wave twenty-five meters high covered Chile fifteen minutes after the first shocks. In one day, it covered several thousand kilometers, destroying the coasts of Hawaii and Japan.

Despite the fact that humanity has been “familiar” with tsunamis for quite some time, this natural phenomenon is still one of the little studied. Scientists have not learned to predict the appearance of rogue waves, so, most likely, in the future the list of their victims will be replenished with new deaths.

Waves, their beauty, continuous movement and variability never cease to amaze people.

It is important to understand that changes in the ocean occur every second, the waves in it are infinitely different and unique.

Successful surfing is impossible without understanding how waves appear and propagate, what changes their speed, strength, shape, and height.

First, let's understand the terminology.

Anatomy of a wave

The periodic oscillation of water relative to the equilibrium position is called a wave.

She has the following elements:

• sole– lower plane;
• crest(linden, from English lip - lip);
• front– ridge line;
• pipe(tube/barrel) – the area where the ridge meets the sole;
• wall(wall) – the inclined part along which the surfer glides;
• shoulder– the area where the wall becomes flat;
• peak– point of incidence of the wave;
• impactzone– the place where the linden falls.

The variability of waves makes them extremely difficult to measure. Fluctuations are assessed using several parameters.

Height– distance from the sole to the ridge. It is measured in different ways. Reports for surfers indicate differences in the fluctuations of weather buoys. Sometimes the wave height is indicated in " growth».

Since the athlete glides over the wave while bending over, 1 “height” is approximately 1.5 meters.

Length– the distance between adjacent ridges.

Steepness– ratio of height to wavelength.

Period– time between two waves in a group (set).

Reasons and features of wave formation

Contrary to naive ideas, a sea or ocean wave is not formed by coastal winds. The most common waves form far out in the ocean.

The wind, blowing for a long time in one direction, swings huge masses of water, sometimes the size of a multi-story building. Large winds are formed in an area of ​​extremely low pressure, characteristic of an anticyclone.

When there is a moderate wind, cool short waves- “lamb”.

At the nascent stage two dimensional waves, whose height does not exceed their length, run in parallel elongated rows of ridges. As the wind increases, the ridges disappear and the wavelength increases faster.

When wave and wind speeds are equalized, the growth of crests stops. From this moment on, the speed, length and period of the waves increase, and their height and steepness decrease. Such long waves more suitable for.

As the storm grows, younger waves overlap older ones, making the sea seem chaotic. When it reaches its peak, the waves become as long as possible, with extended fronts. Wherein the length of the ridges can increase to hundreds of meters(record – up to 1 km).

Waves whose crest size exceeds the wavelength several times are called three-dimensional. Most often, three-dimensional waves consist of alternating “hills,” “bumps,” and “valleys.” Waves come in sets (groups) of 2–10. Most often, 3. Usually medium wave- the highest and most correct in the set.

What the wind moves

Any new wave raises and then lowers water masses.

Interesting fact: water particles do not move horizontally, but in an irregularly shaped circle or ellipse perpendicular to the wave front.

In fact, the trajectory of water particles resembles loops: the intense rotation of the “water wheel” is superimposed on a weak forward movement in the direction of the wind.

This is how the wave profile is formed: its windward slope is gentle, and its leeward slope is steep.

Because of this, the ridges collapse, forming foam.

It is not the mass of water that moves during the wind, but the profile of the wave. So, lost by surfer will swing back and forth, up and down, slowly moving towards the shore.

What sets the wave parameters

They depend on the speed, duration of the wind, changes in its directions; on the depth of the reservoir, the wave acceleration length.

Last determined by the size of the water area.

The wind action must be sufficient to cover the entire space.

That's why stable waves for usually found on the ocean coast.

When the speed and direction of the wind changes more than 45 degrees, the old oscillations slow down, then a new system of waves is formed.

Swells

Having reached their maximum size, the waves begin their journey to the shores. They're leveling out: the smaller ones are absorbed by the larger ones, the slow ones are absorbed by the fast ones.

An array of waves of the same size and power generated by a storm is called swell. The path of a swell to the shore can last thousands of kilometers.

Distinguish wind And bottom swells.

• First not suitable for surfing: the waves in it will not travel a long distance and will break at great depths.
• Second– just what you need, its long fast waves will go a long way and will be steeper when breaking.

Swells differ in amplitude and period. Longer period means better and smoother waves.

In Bali, wind swells are waves with a period of less than 11 seconds. From 16 seconds - excellent waves, a period of 18 seconds - luck, which surfing professionals flock to catch.

For each spot the optimal direction of the swell is known, in which high-quality waves are formed.

Wave crashing

Moving towards the shore, bumping into shallows, reefs, islands, the waves gradually waste their former power.

The longer the distance from the center of the storm, the weaker they are.

When encountering shallow water, the rolling water masses have nowhere to go, they are moving up.

The period of the waves decreases, they seem to compress, slow down, become shorter and steeper. This is how a surf wave grows.

Finally, the crests capsize and the waves collapse or break. The greater the depth difference, the steeper and higher the wave will be!

It occurs near reefs, rocks, sunken ships, on a steep sandbank.

Ridge growth begins at a depth equal to half the wave height.

Wind directions

get up at dawn to
ride in calm water on calm water - this is the perfect setting.

The quality of the waves depends on the coastal wind; some of the highest quality are .

1. Onshore- wind blowing ashore from the ocean.

It “blows away” the crests, crushes the waves, and as a result they become lumpy; does not allow them to “get up”.

Onshore causes waves to close early. This worst for surfing wind, it can ruin your entire ride.

It is dangerous when the wind and swell directions coincide.

2. Offshore– wind from the shore towards the ocean.

If it does not come in gusts, it gives the waves the correct shape, “lifts” them and pushes back the moment of collapse.

It's the wind ideal for surfing.

3. Crossshore– wind along the coast.

It doesn't improve, but sometimes it spoils a lot wave front.

Types of waves

Closeout– a closed wave that breaks along its entire length at once, therefore unsuitable for riding.

Gentle waves do not differ in speed and steepness. With a slight slope, the bottoms slowly break without forming a high wall and pipe, so recommended for beginners.

Plunging waves– powerful, fast, high waves that occur when there is a sharp change in depth. Create opportunities for tricks. Cavities are formed inside - pipes, allowing passages inside.

Preferred for professionals, are dangerous for beginners - they are more likely to fall from them.

Types of surf spots

The place where the wave rises is called surf spot. The nature of the wave is determined by the features of the seabed.

• Beach-break– the place where the waves break on the sandy bottom. In an area with different depths, the wave bends and collapses towards the shallows. This creates the opportunity for the surfer to glide along the water wall.

Video

Watch a video about a surfer conquering a giant wave:

Tsunamis are the largest and most powerful ocean waves that sweep away everything in their path with terrifying force. The peculiarity of such a dangerous natural disaster is the size of the moving wave, its enormous speed, and the gigantic distance between the crests, which reaches tens of kilometers. Tsunamis pose an extreme danger to the coastal zone. Approaching the shore, the wave gains enormous speed, contracts in front of the obstacle, grows significantly in size and deals a crushing and irreparable blow to the land area.

What causes this huge influx of water, which leaves even the tallest and fortified structures no chance of survival? What natural forces can create a water tornado and deprive cities and regions of the right to survive? The movement of tectonic plates and splits in the earth's crust are the worst harbingers of the collapse of a giant stream.

The largest tsunami in the world in the history of mankind

What is the known largest wave in the world? Let's look through the pages of history. The date July 9, 1958 is well remembered by Alaskans. It was this day that became fatal for the Lituya fjord, which is located in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Alaska. The harbinger of the historical event was an earthquake, the strength of which, according to measurements, was equal to 9.1 points. This is what caused the terrifying rockfall, which caused the collapse of rocks and a wave of unprecedented magnitude.

The weather was clear and sunny all day on July 9th. The water level dropped by 1.5 meters, fishermen on ships were fishing (Lituya Bay has always been a favorite place for avid fishermen). Towards evening, around 22:00 local time, a landslide that rolled into the water from a height of 910 meters, followed by huge stones and blocks of ice. The total weight of the mass was approximately 300 million cubic meters. The northern part of the Lituya Bay was completely flooded with water. At the same time, a giant pile of stones was thrown to the opposite side, as a result of which the entire green area of ​​the Fairweather coast was destroyed.

A landslide of this magnitude provoked the appearance of a huge wave, the height of which was 524 meters! This is approximately a building of 200 floors! It was the largest and highest wave in the world. The gigantic force of the ocean water literally washed away Lituya Bay. The tidal wave picked up speed (by this time it had already accelerated to 160 km/h) and rushed towards Cenotaph Island. Terrible landslides simultaneously descended from the mountains to the water, carrying a column of dust and stones. The wave rose to such a size that the foot of the mountain disappeared under it.

Trees and greenery covering the mountain slopes were uprooted and sucked into the water column. The tsunami continually rushed from side to side inside the bay, covering the points of the shallows and sweeping away the forest covers of the high northern mountains on its way. There is no trace left of the La Gaussi spit, which separated the waters of the bay and Gilbert Bay. After everything had calmed down, on the shore one could see catastrophic cracks in the ground, severe destruction and rubble. The buildings erected by the fishermen were completely destroyed. The scale of the disaster was impossible to assess.

This wave claimed the lives of about three hundred thousand people. Only the longboat managed to escape, which by some incredible miracle was thrown out of the bay and thrown over the sandbank. Once on the other side of the mountain, the fishermen were left without a vessel, but were rescued two hours later. The bodies of the fishermen of another longboat were carried away into the abyss of water. They were never found.

Another terrible tragedy

Terrible destruction remained after the tsunami on December 26, 2004 for residents of the Indian Ocean coast. A powerful shock in the ocean caused a disastrous wave. In the depths of the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Sumatra, a fracture of the earth's crust occurred, which provoked a displacement of the bottom over a distance of more than 1000 kilometers. The largest wave that has ever covered the coast was formed from this fault. At first its height was no more than 60 centimeters. But it accelerated, and now a 20-meter shaft was rushing at an insane, unprecedented speed of 800 kilometers per hour towards the islands of Sumatra and Thailand to the east of India and Sri Lanka - to the west! In eight hours, a terrible tsunami, unprecedented in history, flew over the entire coast of the Indian Ocean, and in 24 hours, the entire World Ocean!

The greatest destruction occurred on the shores of Indonesia. The tidal wave buried cities and regions tens of kilometers deep. The islands of Thailand have become a mass grave for tens of thousands of people. Residents of coastal areas had no chance of salvation, since the water blanket held the cities under it for more than 15 minutes. Huge loss of life resulted from the natural disaster. Economic losses were also impossible to calculate. More than 5 million residents were forced to leave their homes, more than one million needed help, and two million people needed new housing. International organizations responded and helped the victims in every possible way.

Disaster in Prince William Sound

Severe, irreparable losses were caused by an earthquake on March 27, 1964 in Prince William Sound (Alaska) measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale. It covered a huge area of ​​800,000 square kilometers. Such a powerful push from a depth of more than 20 kilometers can be compared to the simultaneous explosion of 12 thousand atomic bombs! The western coast of the United States of America was significantly damaged, which was literally covered by a huge tsunami. The wave reached as far as Antarctica and Japan. Villages and towns, enterprises, and the city of Veldez were wiped off the face of the earth.

The wave swept away everything that came in its way: dams, concrete blocks, houses, buildings, ships in the port. The wave height reached 67 meters! This, of course, is not the largest wave in the world, but it brought a lot of destruction. Fortunately, the deadly stream claimed the lives of approximately 150 people. The number of victims could have been much higher, but due to the sparse population of these places, only 150 local residents died. Considering the area and gigantic power of the stream, they had no chance of survival.

Great East Japan Earthquake

One can only imagine what force of nature destroyed the shores of Japan and brought irreparable losses to its inhabitants. After this disaster, the consequences will be felt for many years. At the junction of the world's two largest lithospheric plates, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale occurred, about twice the magnitude of the tremors caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. A tragic event of enormous scale is also called the “Great East Japan Earthquake.” In just 20 minutes, a terrifying wave, the height of which exceeded 40 meters, reached the shores of Japan, where a large number of people were located.

About 25 thousand people became victims of the tsunami. This was the largest wave in the history of the Easterners. But this was only the beginning of the disaster. The scale of the tragedy grew every hour after the attack by the powerful flow of the Fokushima-1 nuclear power plant. The power plant system went out of operating mode due to tremors and shock waves. The failure was followed by a meltdown of the reactors in the power units. Today, a zone within a radius of tens of kilometers is a zone of exclusion and disaster. About 400 thousand buildings and structures were destroyed, bridges, railways, highways, airports, ports and shipping stations were destroyed. It will take years to rebuild the country after the terrible disaster brought by the highest wave.

Disaster on the coast of Papua New Guinea

Another disaster struck the coast of Papua New Guinea in July 1998. The earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the measurement scale, triggered by a massive landslide, caused a wave more than 15 meters high, which killed more than 200 thousand people, leaving thousands more homeless on the island. Before the invasion of ocean water, there was a small bay here called Varupu, the waters of which washed two islands, where the Varupu people lived, worked and traded peacefully. Two powerful and unexpected impulses from underground occurred within 30 minutes of each other.

They set in motion a huge shaft, which caused strong waves that swept away several villages along a length of 30 kilometers from the face of New Guinea. Residents of seven more settlements needed medical care and were hospitalized. The sea level in the capital of New Guinea, Rabaul, rose by 6 centimeters. A tidal wave of such magnitude has never been observed before, although in this region local residents often suffer from disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes. A giant wave destroyed and carried under water an area of ​​more than 100 square kilometers to a depth of 4 meters.

Tsunami in the Philippines

Exactly until August 16, 1976, the small island of Mindanao existed in the oceanic depression of Cotabato. It was the most southern, picturesque and exotic place among all the islands of the Philippines. Local residents could not at all predict that a terrible earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale would destroy this stunning place, washed by the seas on all sides. A huge force created a tsunami as a result of an earthquake.

The wave seemed to cut off the entire coastline of Mindanao. Not having time to escape, 5 thousand people died under the shelter of sea water. Approximately 2.5 thousand residents of the island were not found, 9.5 thousand received varying degrees of injury, more than 90 thousand lost their shelter and remained on the street. This was the strongest activity in the history of the Philippine Islands. Scientists who examined the details of the disaster found that the power of such a natural phenomenon caused movements of the water mass, which provoked a shift in the islands of Sulawesi and Borneo. It was the worst and most destructive event in the entire period of the existence of the island of Mindanao.

The biggest waves in the world are legendary. The stories about them are impressive, the pictures drawn amaze the imagination. But many believe that in reality they are not so high, and eyewitnesses are simply exaggerating. Modern methods of tracking and recording leave no doubt: giant waves exist, this is an indisputable fact.

What are they?

The study of the seas and oceans using modern instruments and knowledge has made it possible to classify the degree of their excitement not only by the strength of the storm in points. There is another criterion - the causes of occurrence:

• rogue waves: these are giant wind waves;
• tsunamis: occur as a result of the movement of tectonic plates, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions;
• coastal ones appear in places with a special bottom topography;
• underwater (seiches and microseiches): they are usually invisible from the surface, but they can be no less dangerous than surface ones.

The mechanics of the emergence of the largest waves are completely different, as are the height and speed records they set. Therefore, we will consider each category separately and find out what heights they conquered.

rogue waves

It's hard to imagine that a huge, towering single rogue wave actually exists. But over the past decades, this statement has become a proven fact: they were recorded by special buoys and satellites. This phenomenon has been well studied within the framework of the international project MaxWave, created to monitor all the seas and oceans of the world, where satellites of the European Space Agency were used. And scientists used computer modeling to understand the reasons for the emergence of such giants.

Interesting fact: it has been found that small waves are able to merge with each other, as a result of which their total strength and height are summed up. And when encountering any natural obstacle (shoal, reef), “pinching out” occurs, which increases the strength of the water disturbance even more.

Rogue waves (also called solitons) arise as a result of natural processes: cyclones and typhoons change atmospheric pressure, its changes can cause resonance, which provokes the appearance of the world's highest water columns. They are capable of moving at enormous speeds (up to 180 km/h) and rising to incredible heights (theoretically up to 60 m). Although this has not yet been observed, the recorded data is impressive:

• in 2012 in the southern hemisphere - 22.03 meters;
• in 2013 in the North Atlantic – 19;
• and a new record: near New Zealand on the night of May 8-9, 2018 - 23.8 meters.

These highest waves in the world have been spotted by buoys and satellites, and their existence is documented. So skeptics can no longer deny the existence of solitons. Studying them is an important matter, because such a mass of water moving at enormous speed can sink any ship, even a state-of-the-art liner.

Unlike previous ones, tsunamis occur as a result of serious natural disasters. They are much higher than solitons and have incredible destructive power, even those that do not reach special heights. And they are dangerous not so much to those who are at sea as to residents of coastal cities. A powerful impulse during an eruption or earthquake raises gigantic layers of water, they can reach speeds of up to 800 km/h, and hit the coast with incredible force. The “risk zone” includes bays with high shores, seas and oceans with underwater volcanoes, and areas with increased seismic activity. Lightning speed of occurrence, incredible speed, enormous destructive power - this is how all known tsunamis can be characterized.

Here are a few examples that will convince everyone of the danger of the highest waves in the world:

• 2011, Honshu: After an earthquake, a 40-meter-high tsunami hit the shores of Japan, killing more than 15,000 people, with many thousands more still missing. And the coast is completely destroyed.
• 2004, Thailand, the islands of Sumatra and Java: after an earthquake with a magnitude of more than 9 points, a monstrous tsunami with a height of more than 15 m swept across the ocean, victims were in various places. Even in South Africa, 7,000 km from the epicenter, people died. In total, about 300,000 people died.
• 1896, Honshu Island: more than 10 thousand houses were destroyed, about 27 thousand people died;
• 1883, after the eruption of Krakatoa: a tsunami about 40 meters high swept from Java and Sumatra, where more than 35 thousand people died (some historians believe that there were much more victims, about 200,000). And then, at a speed of 560 km/h, the tsunami crossed the Pacific and Indian oceans, past Africa, Australia and America. And it reached the Atlantic Ocean: changes in water levels were noted in Panama and France.

But the largest wave in human history should be recognized as the tsunami in Lituya Bay in Alaska. Skeptics may have doubts, but the fact remains: after the earthquake on the Fairweather fault on July 9, 1958, a supertsunami was formed. A giant column of water 524 meters high at a speed of about 160 km/h crossed the bay and Cenotaph Island, rolling over its highest point. In addition to eyewitness accounts of this disaster, there is other evidence, for example, torn trees at the highest point of the island. The most amazing thing is that the casualties were minimal; the crew members of one longboat died. And another, located nearby, was simply thrown over the island, and he ended up in the open ocean.

Coastal waves

Constantly rough seas in narrow bays are not uncommon. Features of the coastline can provoke high and quite dangerous surf. Unrest in the water element can initially arise as a result of storms, collisions of ocean currents, at the “junction” of waters, for example, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It is worth noting that such phenomena are permanent. Therefore, we can name particularly dangerous places. These are Bermuda, Cape Horn, the southern coast of Africa, the shores of Greece, and the Norwegian shelves.

Such places are well known to sailors. It is not for nothing that Cape Horn has long enjoyed a “bad reputation” among seafarers.

But in Portugal, in the small village of Nazaré, the power of the sea began to be used for peaceful purposes. This coastline is favored by surfers; every winter a period of storms begins here and you are guaranteed to ride waves of 25–30 meters in height. It was here that famous surfer Garrett McNamara set world records. The coasts of California, Hawaii and Tahiti are also popular among water explorers.

Underwater disturbances

Not much is known about this phenomenon. Ocean scientists theorize that seiches and microseiches result from differences in water density. It is at the border of such a watershed that seiches occur. The layer separating waters of different densities first rises slowly, and then suddenly and sharply falls by almost 100 meters. Moreover, on the surface such movement is practically not felt. But for submarines, such a phenomenon is simply a disaster. They fall sharply to a depth where the pressure can be many times greater than the strength of the hull. When investigating the causes of the sinking of the nuclear submarine Thresher in 1963, seiches were the main version and the most plausible.

The biggest waves in history are often associated with tragedy. Ships and people died, coastlines and infrastructure were destroyed, huge liners washed ashore and entire cities were washed into the water. But it must be admitted that a huge column of water rushing at incredible speed makes an indelible impression. This sight will always frighten and fascinate at the same time.