Lituya Bay, 1958

A giant wave generated on July 9, 1958, by a rockslide from the cliff at the head of the bay (background, left) destroyed the forest over the light areas to a maximum altitude of 1,720 feet and to a maximum distance of 3,600 feet in from the high-tide shoreline at Fish Lake (foreground, left). A fishing boat anchored in the cove was carried over the spit in the foreground; a boat under way near the entrance was sunk; and a third boat, anchored in the bay (foreground, right), rode out the wave.