By Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
June 14, 2016
On October 17, 2015, a rain-soaked mountainside slid into Taan Fiord on Icy Bay, sending a giant wave more than 500 feet up the opposite slope.
Southeast Alaska’s 18,000-foot Mount Saint Elias rises behind a USGS tent pitched on sandy gravel left by a tsunami 8 months ago. On October 17, 2015, a rain-soaked mountainside slid into Taan Fiord on Icy Bay, sending a giant wave more than 500 feet up the opposite slope. Large tracts of barren landscape along the fiord margins used to be forest. USGS scientists study recent tsunami deposits to better understand how tsunamis work, recognize ancient tsunami deposits, and improve natural-hazard assessments.
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