A tsunami is a huge ocean wave (浪). An earthquake usually causes a tsunami. The biggest tsunami ever hit land on July 9, 1958. It happened when an earthquake shook the undersea floor. The 8.0 earthquake shook 40 million cubic yards (立方码) of rocks and ice from a mountain. The landslide (滑坡) fell 3,000 feet and hit the water with terrible force. It caused the huge tsunami wave. The wave was more than 1,640 feet (500 meters) high and hit over five square miles of land. It also destroyed millions of trees.
There were no towns in the area, so it is different from the terrible tsunami of 2004. More than 200,000 people lost their lives in 2004. ▲ . These two unlucky people were on a fishing boat in the bay when the wave arrived. Another boat was carrying Peter and his wife. They jumped into a small boat and some people saved them a few hours later. Jack and his seven-year-old son were on the third boat. Luckily, both of them didn't die.
For many years, scientists discussed about the reasons of tsunami in 1958. Some scientists said lots of rocks fell into the bay, but it was not enough to cause such a huge wave. They thought that the earthquake itself caused the wave. However, as our understanding of earthquakes and tsunamis improved, most scientists now regard the landslide as the true reason for the wave. But no one argues that the wave was the largest in the world and will keep a long time in the future.
