Tsunami !

In the late-night hours of March 28, 1964, Crescent City was struck by a tsunami generated by a devastating Alaskan earthquake, as seismic waves raced southwestward along the Pacific Coast at 500 miles an hour. A first great surge of offshore logs and debris deluged the town a few minutes before midnight, and while panicked townspeople struggled to clear wreckage from downtown streets, second and third waves followed. The fourth wave brought the worst destruction, claiming 11 lives, collapsing powerlines, scattering vehicles and buildings across the landscape, and leaving 29 city blocks in ruins.

Crescent City, California · United States