Behind the 3-Mile High Tsunami That Crashed Into the East Coast

Earth has been hit with some severe natural disasters in recent years, ranging from devastating earthquakes to blazing wildfires and hurricanes that have left nothing but destruction in its wake.

Tsunamis are giant waves often caused by geological activities outside of human influence, such as volcanic activity and earthquakes.

One of the largest tsunamis of the past century occurred in 1958, triggered by an enormous landslide on Alaska’s coast.

Despite its enormous size, the wave was only around 0.3 miles and is tiny in comparison to the largest one ever recorded as a result of a tsunami.

Around 66 million years ago, Earth was struck by an asteroid estimated to be around 6 miles in diameter.

The asteroid’s impact would have sent shockwaves throughout the planet, leading to severe geological activity.

Following the meteorite’s impact on our planet, the enormous tsunami would have begun traveling outwards in every direction, with the east coast of the US lying right in the path of destruction.

To truly grasp the magnitude of the mammoth wave, it would have easily towered over any building that currently exists on Earth.

Unlike usual tsunamis, megatsunamis are caused by giant landslides or massive earthquakes below the ocean floor.

While the megatsunami did create some complications for the life that existed on Earth at the time, most of the damage would have been caused by the asteroid. Anything in the rage of the initial blast would have been vaporized.

Thankfully, we can confidently say that modern humans will never experience an event similar to the megatsunami that occurred overground 66 million years ago.

While the largest recorded tsunami only took two lives, another fairly large tsunami off the coast of Sumatra took nearly 230,000 lives across 14 countries. Known as the Boxing Day tsunami, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the northern tip of Sumatra in Indonesia around 7:59 a.m. local time in 2004.

The deadliest tsunami ever recorded occurred two decades ago, on December 26, 2004. On this day, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra.

Referred to as the Indian Ocean tsunami, waves as tall as 30 feet were recorded at several coastal locations, and the event is recognized as one of the largest natural disasters in recorded history.

The level of destruction caused by the Ocean Tsunami showcases how terrifying Mother Nature can truly be.

Tsunamis have long devastated coastal areas, and continue to be a threat in many parts of the world because there are very few warning systems in place. In the last two decades, two of the most devastating tsunamis have occurred.

In 1755, people who were traveling from the Portuguese countryside to Lisbon for All Saints’ Day, a feast day observed by Western churches on the first day of November. By mid-morning, the streets and churches were more crowded than usual.

Survivors of the devastation described hearing a “horrible subterranean noise.” For the next hour, the city rocked from tremors. Many buildings were reduced to rubble and left survivors sorting out the chaos on the streets when the tsunami hit.

In 1883, sailors reported seeing activity from the Krakatau volcano between an Indonesian island between Sumatra and Java. When the volcano erupted in late August of that year in a series of early-morning explosions, hot gas and volcanic matter burst into the ocean.

For hours, coastal villages endured multiple 100-foot tsunamis from the volcanic eruption. On Java, reports indicate that the coastal town of Merak, which housed 2,700 people, was completely decimated. However, two people did survive.

In 1868, 25,000 people lost their lives as a result of a massive earthquake on August 13. An 8.5 magnitude earthquake struck around 4:30 p.m., sending an aftershock to towns on the borders of Peru and Chile.

People near the sea watched as the water rose and then receded, exposing nearly a mile of seabed. This phenomenon was an early warning sign of the 50-foot waves coming toward the coast with intense force.

The fifth most devastating earthquake on record happened in 2011. An afternoon earthquake shook Japan. The 9.1 magnitude earthquake shifted the ocean floor, sending a shockwave that almost everyone in Japan felt.

40 minutes later, a 130-foot tsunami wave crashed into 1,200 miles of Japan’s coastline. In the coastal town of Ōkuma, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant lost power while the emergency generators were flooded. The plant’s three reactors cooled and released radiation that became the worst nuclear disaster in decades.