Q: What Is The Largest Tsunami Ever Recorded? - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

Q: What Is The Largest Tsunami Ever Recorded?

A: Lyle from Prunedale asked us, "What is the biggest recorded tsunami wave and is there a limit on how big they could get?"

Here's our Chief Meteorologist Norm Hoffmann.

The largest Tsunami every recorded was July 9, 1958 in Lituya Bay Alaska, it was 1720 feet high. You can find the story and information at: http://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml#eyewitness The following is taken from the web site.

"On the night of July 9, 1958 an earthquake along the Fairweather Fault in the Alaska Panhandle loosened about 40 million cubic yards (30.6 million cubic meters) of rock high above the northeastern shore of Lituya Bay. This mass of rock plunged from an altitude of approximately 3000 feet (914 meters) down into the waters of Gilbert Inlet (see map below). The impact generated a local tsunami that crashed against the southwest shoreline of Gilbert Inlet. The wave hit with such power that it swept completely over the spur of land that separates Gilbert Inlet from the main body of Lituya Bay. The wave then continued down the entire length of Lituya Bay, over La Chaussee Spit and into the Gulf of Alaska. The force of the wave removed all trees and vegetation from elevations as high as 1720 feet (524 meters) above sea level. Millions of trees were uprooted and swept away by the wave. This is the highest wave that has ever been known."

Granted this is a small inlet in Alaska, but you might be asking about the open ocean as well. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. The resulting tsunami is given various names, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, South Asian Tsunami, Indonesian Tsunami, and Boxing Day Tsunami.

The earthquake was caused by subduction and triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (98 ft) high, almost 100 feet. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. Indonesia was the hardest hit, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

You asked, is there any limit to the height of the wave? It all depends if it is on the open ocean or in a smaller bay or inlet. However a if an asteroid hits the earth and hits one of the large oceans the resulting Tsunami is anyone's guess. So, depending on what triggers the Tsunami, it could be 100 feet or more, but most are much less.