Residents run from an approaching tsunami in Hilo, Hawai'i
The 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake was an earthquake near the Aleutian Islands on April 1, 1946. It was followed by a Pacific-wide tsunami. The earthquake was a magnitude 7.8, with its epicenter at 52.8°N, 163.5°W, and focal depth of 25 km. It resulted in 165 casualties (159 people on Hawaii and six in Alaska) and over $26 million in damages. Among others, it obliterated the Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Island and killed the four keepers. It prompted the creation of the Seismic Sea Wave Warning System, which later became the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in 1949.http://drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1946.html The tsunami was unusually powerful for the size of the earthquake; it was the last time any earthquake below magnitude 9.0 caused tsunami fatalities far from the earthquake area. Scientists think the tsunami may have started from an earthquake triggering a landslide.
The tsunami is locally known in Hawaii as the April Fools Day Tsunami in Hawaii due to people thinking the warnings were an April Fools prank.
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