Tsunami is one of the most terrifying natural phenomena. It is a wave formed as a result of “shaking” of the entire thickness of water in the ocean. Tsunamis are most often caused by underwater earthquakes.
Approaching the shore, the tsunami grows into a huge shaft tens of meters high and hits the shore with millions of tons of water. The largest tsunami in the world caused colossal destruction and led to the death of millions of people.
Residents of fishing villages within a radius of about 500 km from the volcano had virtually no chance of survival. Victims were observed even in South Africa, on the opposite shore of the ocean. In total, 36.5 thousand people are considered dead from the tsunami itself.
The city of Severo-Kurilsk was subsequently moved to a higher place. And the tragedy became the reason for the organization in the USSR of a tsunami warning system and more active scientific research in seismology and oceanology.
As a result, a gigantic wave was formed, reaching a height of 524 m! It swept across the bay, licking the vegetation and soil on the slopes of the bay like a tongue, completely destroying the spit that separated it from Gilbert Bay. This is the highest tsunami wave in history. The banks of Lituya were not inhabited, so only 5 fishermen became victims.
But the rogue wave did not calm down there. At the speed of a jet plane, it crossed the Pacific Ocean, killing 61 people in Hawaii, and reached the shores of Japan. Another 142 people became victims of the tsunami, which occurred at a distance of more than 10 thousand km. After this, it was decided to warn about the danger of a tsunami even in the most remote areas of the coast that may be in the path of a deadly wave.
The underwater earthquake caused waves 30 m high that hit coastal areas within 15 minutes. The large number of deaths is due to several reasons. This is a high degree of population of the coast, lowland areas, a large number of tourists on the beaches. But main reason– lack of an established tsunami warning system and poor awareness of people about safety measures.
May 29th, 2016
When I read about the wave height caused by the tsunami in 1958, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I checked it once, twice. It's the same everywhere. No, they probably made a mistake with the comma, and everyone is copying each other. Or maybe in units of measurement?
Well, how could it be otherwise, that’s what you think, there could be a wave from a tsunami 524 meters high! HALF A KILOMETER!
Now we find out what really happened there...
Here's what an eyewitness writes:
After the first shock, I fell from the bed and looked towards the beginning of the bay, where the noise was coming from. The mountains trembled terribly, stones and avalanches rushed down. And the glacier in the north was especially striking; it is called the Lituya glacier. It is usually not visible from where I was anchored. People shake their heads when I tell them that I saw him that night. I can't help it if they don't believe me. I know that the glacier is not visible from where I was anchored in Anchorage Bay, but I also know that I saw it that night. The glacier rose into the air and moved forward until it became visible. He must have risen several hundred feet. I'm not saying it was just hanging in the air. But he was shaking and jumping like crazy. Large pieces of ice fell from its surface into the water. The glacier was six miles away, and I saw large chunks falling off it like a huge dump truck. This continued for some time - it is difficult to say how long - and then suddenly the glacier disappeared from sight and a large wall of water rose above this place. The wave went our way, after which I was too busy to say what else was happening there.
It happened on July 9, 1958. An unusually severe disaster occurred in Lituya Bay in southeastern Alaska. In this bay, which extends more than 11 km into the land, geologist D. Miller discovered a difference in the age of trees on the hillside surrounding the bay. Based on tree rings, he estimated that over the past 100 years, waves with maximum heights of several hundred meters have occurred in the bay at least four times. Miller's conclusions were viewed with great distrust. And then on July 9, 1958, a strong earthquake occurred on the Fairweather fault north of the bay, causing the destruction of buildings, the collapse of the coast, and the formation of numerous cracks. And a huge landslide on the mountainside above the bay caused a wave of record height (524 m), which swept through the narrow, fjord-like bay at a speed of 160 km/h.
Lituya is a fjord located on the Fairweather fault in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is a T-shaped bay 14 kilometers long and up to three kilometers wide. The maximum depth is 220 m. The narrow entrance to the bay is only 10 m deep. Two glaciers descend into Lituya Bay, each of which is about 19 km long and up to 1.6 km wide. During the century preceding the events described, waves over 50 meters high have already been observed in Lituya several times: in 1854, 1899 and 1936
The 1958 earthquake caused a subaerial rockfall at the mouth of the Gilbert Glacier in Lituya Bay. As a result of this landslide, more than 30 million cubic meters rocks collapsed into the bay and led to the formation of a megatsunami. As a result of this disaster, 5 people died: three died on Hantaak Island and two more were washed away by a wave in the bay. In Yakutat, the only permanent locality near the epicenter, infrastructure facilities were damaged: bridges, docks and oil pipelines.
After the earthquake, a study was carried out of a subglacial lake located northwest of the bend of the Lituya Glacier at the very beginning of the bay. It turned out that the lake dropped by 30 meters. This fact served as the basis for another hypothesis of the formation of a giant wave more than 500 meters high. Probably, during the glacier's descent, a large volume of water entered the bay through an ice tunnel under the glacier. However, the runoff of water from the lake could not be the main cause of the megatsunami.
A huge mass of ice, stones and earth (volume of about 300 million cubic meters) rushed down from the glacier, exposing the mountain slopes. The earthquake destroyed numerous buildings, cracks appeared in the ground, and the coastline slid. The moving mass fell on the northern part of the bay, filled it up, and then crawled onto the opposite slope of the mountain, tearing off the forest cover from it to a height of more than three hundred meters. The landslide generated a giant wave that literally swept Lituya Bay towards the ocean. The wave was so great that it swept entirely over the entire sandbank at the mouth of the bay.
Eyewitnesses to the disaster were people on board the ships that dropped anchor in the bay. The terrible shock threw them all out of their beds. Jumping to their feet, they could not believe their eyes: the sea rose. “Giant landslides, raising clouds of dust and snow in their path, began to run along the slopes of the mountains. Soon their attention was attracted by an absolutely fantastic sight: the mass of ice of the Lituya glacier, located far to the north and usually hidden from view by the peak that rises at the entrance to the bay, seemed to rise above the mountains and then majestically collapsed into the waters of the inner bay. It all looked like some kind of nightmare. In front of the shocked people's eyes, a huge wave rose up and swallowed the foot of the northern mountain. After that, it swept across the bay, tearing trees off the mountain slopes ; having fallen like a mountain of water onto the island of Cenotaph... rolled over the highest point of the island, rising 50 m above sea level. This entire mass suddenly plunged into the waters of the narrow bay, causing a huge wave, the height of which, apparently, reached 17-35 m. the energy was so great that the wave rushed furiously across the bay, sweeping the mountain slopes.In the inner basin, the impact of the wave on the shore was probably very strong. The slopes of the northern mountains facing the bay were bare: where there had once been dense forest there were now bare rocks; This pattern was observed at altitudes of up to 600 meters.
One longboat was lifted high, easily carried across the sandbar and dropped into the ocean. At that moment, when the longboat was carried over the sandbank, the fishermen on it saw below them standing trees. The wave literally threw people across the island into the open sea. During a nightmare ride on a giant wave, the boat pounded against trees and debris. The longboat sank, but the fishermen miraculously survived and were rescued two hours later. Of the other two longboats, one safely withstood the wave, but the other sank, and the people on it went missing.
Miller found that the trees growing at the upper edge of the exposed area, just below 600 m above the bay, were bent and broken, their fallen trunks pointing towards the top of the mountain, but the roots were not torn from the soil. Something pushed these trees up. The enormous force that accomplished this could not be anything other than the top of a gigantic wave that swept over the mountain on that July evening in 1958.”
Mr. Howard J. Ulrich, on his yacht, which is called "Edri", entered the waters of Lituya Bay about eight in the evening and anchored at a depth of nine meters in a small cove on the southern shore. Howard says that suddenly the yacht began to rock violently. He ran out onto the deck and saw how in the northeastern part of the bay the rocks began to move due to the earthquake and a huge block of rock began to fall into the water. About two and a half minutes after the earthquake, he heard a deafening sound from the destruction of rock.
“We definitely saw that the wave came from Gilbert Bay, just before the earthquake ended. But at first it was not a wave. At first it was more like an explosion, as if the glacier was splitting into pieces. The wave grew from the surface of the water, at first it was almost invisible, who would have thought that then the water would rise to a height of half a kilometer.”
Ulrich said that he observed the entire process of development of the wave, which reached their yacht in a very a short time- something like two and a half or three minutes since she was first noticed. Since we didn't want to lose the anchor, we pulled out the entire anchor chain (about 72 meters) and started the engine. Halfway between the northeastern edge of Lituya Bay and Cenotaf Island, a thirty-meter-high wall of water could be seen that stretched from one shore to the other. When the wave approached the northern part of the island, it split into two parts, but after passing the southern part of the island, the wave became one again. It was smooth, only there was a small ridge on top. When this mountain of water approached our yacht, its front was quite steep, and its height was from 15 to 20 meters. Before the wave arrived at the place where our yacht was located, we did not feel any drop in water or other changes, with the exception of a slight vibration that was transmitted through the water from tectonic processes that began to operate during the earthquake. As soon as the wave approached us and began to lift our yacht, the anchor chain crackled violently. The yacht was carried towards south coast and then, on the return stroke of the wave, towards the center of the bay. The top of the wave was not very wide, from 7 to 15 meters, and the trailing front was less steep than the leading one.
As the giant wave swept past us, the surface of the water returned to its normal level, but we could see a lot of turbulence swirling around the yacht, as well as erratic waves six meters high, which moved from one birch bay to another. These waves did not create any noticeable movement of water from the mouth of the bay to its northeastern part and back.
After 25...30 minutes the surface of the bay calmed down. Near the banks one could see many logs, branches and uprooted trees. All this rubbish slowly drifted towards the center of Lituya Bay and towards its mouth. In fact, during the entire incident, Ulrich did not lose control of the yacht. When the Edri approached the entrance to the bay at 11 pm, a normal current could be observed there, which is usually caused by the daily ebb of ocean water.
Other eyewitnesses to the disaster, the Swenson couple on a yacht called Badger, entered Lituya Bay around nine in the evening. First, their ship approached Cenotaf Island, and then returned to Anchorage Bay on the northern shore of the bay, not far from its mouth (see map). The Svensons anchored at a depth of about seven meters and went to bed. William Swenson's sleep was interrupted by strong vibrations from the yacht's hull. He ran to the control room and began to time what was happening. A little over a minute after William first felt the vibration, and probably just before the end of the earthquake, he looked towards the northeastern part of the bay, which was visible against the backdrop of Cenotaph Island. The traveler saw something that he initially mistook for the Lituya glacier, which “rose into the air and began to move towards the observer. “It seemed like this mass was solid, but it jumped and swayed. Large pieces of ice were constantly falling into the water in front of this block.” After a short time, “the glacier disappeared from view, and instead of it a large wave appeared in that place and went in the direction of the La Gaussi spit, just where our yacht was anchored.” In addition, Svenson noticed that the wave flooded the shore at a very noticeable height.
When the wave passed Cenotaf Island, its height was about 15 meters in the center of the bay, and gradually decreased near the shores. She passed the island approximately two and a half minutes after she was first seen, and reached the yacht Badger another eleven and a half minutes (approximately). Before the wave arrived, William, like Howard Ulrich, did not notice any drop in water level or any turbulent phenomena.
The yacht "Badger", which was still at anchor, was lifted by a wave and carried towards the La Gaussie spit. The stern of the yacht was below the crest of the wave, so that the position of the vessel resembled a surfboard. Svenson looked at that moment at the place where the trees growing on the La Gaussy spit should have been visible. At that moment they were hidden by water. William noted that above the tops of the trees there was a layer of water equal to approximately two times the length of his yacht, about 25 meters. Having passed the La Gaussi spit, the wave subsided very quickly.
In the place where Svenson's yacht was moored, the water level began to drop and the ship hit the bottom of the bay, remaining afloat not far from the shore. 3-4 minutes after the impact, Swenson saw that water continued to flow over the La Gaussie Spit, carrying logs and other debris from forest vegetation. He wasn't sure it wasn't a second wave that could have carried the yacht across the spit into the Gulf of Alaska. Therefore, the Swenson couple left their yacht, moving onto a small boat, from which they were picked up by a fishing boat a couple of hours later.
There was a third ship in Lituya Bay at the time of the incident. It was anchored at the entrance to the bay, and was sunk by a huge wave. None of the people on board survived, two were believed to have died.
What happened on July 9, 1958? That evening, a huge rock fell into the water from a steep cliff overlooking the northeastern shore of Gilbert Bay. Tsunami record for wave height. The collapse area is marked on the map in red. The impact of an incredible mass of stones from a very high altitude caused an unprecedented tsunami, which wiped out from the face of the earth all life that was located along the entire coast of Lituya Bay right up to the La Gaussi spit. After the wave passed along both shores of the bay, there was not only no vegetation left, but even no soil; there was bare rock on the surface of the shore. The damaged area is shown in yellow on the map.
The numbers along the shore of the bay indicate the height above sea level of the edge of the damaged land area and approximately correspond to the height of the wave that passed here.
sources
What causes the appearance of most waves in the oceans and seas, about the destructive energy of waves and about the most gigantic waves and the largest tsunamis that man has ever seen.
The formation of waves in the ocean follows certain patterns.
The height and length of the wave depend on the wind speed, the duration of its influence, and the area covered by the wind. There is a correspondence: highest height wave is one seventh of its length. For example, a strong breeze generates waves up to 3 meters high, an extensive hurricane - on average up to 20 meters. And these are truly monstrous waves, with roaring foam caps and other special effects.
The highest normal wave of 34 meters was recorded in the Agulhas Current ( South Africa) in 1933 by sailors on board the American ship Ramapo. Waves of this height are called “rogue waves”: even a large ship can easily get lost in the gaps between them and die.
In theory, the height of normal waves can reach 60 meters, but such waves have not yet been recorded in practice.
In addition to the usual wind origin, there are other mechanisms of wave formation. The cause and epicenter of the birth of a wave can be an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a sharp change in the coastline (landslides), human activity (for example, testing nuclear weapons) and even the fall of large celestial bodies - meteorites - into the ocean.
The worst tsunamis are caused by significant disturbances in the topography of the seabed, such as tectonic faults or shifts, due to which billions of tons of water begin to abruptly move tens of thousands of kilometers at the speed of a jet aircraft. Disasters occur when this entire mass slows down on the shore, and its colossal energy first goes to increase in height, and ultimately collapses onto the land with all its power, a wall of water.
The most tsunami-hazardous places are bays with high banks. These are real tsunami traps. And the worst thing is that a tsunami almost always comes suddenly: in appearance, the situation at sea can be indistinguishable from low tide or high tide, an ordinary storm, people do not have time or do not even think about evacuating, and suddenly they are overtaken by a giant wave. Not many places have developed a warning system.
Territories with increased seismic activity are areas of particular risk in our time. No wonder the name of this natural phenomenon is of Japanese origin.
Another of the highest waves in Japanese history hit the western island of Hokkaido in 1741 as a result of a volcanic eruption; its height is approximately 90 meters.
And the record holder for wave height is named “Lituya”. This tsunami, which swept through Lituya Bay in Alaska at a speed of 160 km/h in 1958, was triggered by a giant landslide. The wave height was estimated at 524 meters.
Meanwhile, the sea is not always dangerous. There are “friendly” seas. For example, not a single river flows into the Red Sea, but it is the cleanest in the world. .
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Tsunami statistics demonstrate the destructive power of this natural phenomenon. In 2016, Japan was covered by a tsunami with a wave height of up to 1.5 m, which reached the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which was in emergency condition.
Given a natural phenomenon associated with the movement of the Earth's lithospheric plates. lifts one slab above another. The condition for the formation of a wave is a significant vertical movement of this section of the seabed. The magnitude of the wave's rise at the location of the movement is related not only to the distance the plate rises, but also to the strength of the seismic shock.
According to the laws of physics, liquid columns of different heights along the edges of a fault are an unstable system. Therefore, the alignment of the pillars occurs due to the formation of a wave that “flows” from a high pillar to a low one. The atmosphere also participates in restoring the disturbed balance. Directional winds (hurricanes) tend to move the volume of “rising” water towards its “falling” direction.
From the point of view of wave phenomena, the occurrence of a tsunami is associated with the formation of long waves with high travel speed. In this case, the propagation of waves in the open sea contributes to their attenuation, but in the case of a long tectonic fault this does not happen. Conditions for the formation of a tsunami:
The occurrence of a tsunami as a result of an earthquake is a common variant of this phenomenon.
The usual causes of tsunamis are earthquakes. The tsunami does not depend on the strength of the earthquake, since shifts are not always noticeable in deep waters ocean. Other reasons (7%) and some (5%). In 1883, the Krakatoa volcano erupted near the island of Java, causing tsunami waves to kill 36,000 people.
The most dangerous earthquakes with seismic activity of 12 points. But for 10 years such things have not been observed. In addition to natural tsunamis, huge waves can be caused by human activity, such as a nuclear explosion in the ocean or sea. The formation of waves can also be associated with the fall of a large meteorite. Lately An opinion arose that an iceberg falling into the water could generate a wave comparable to a tsunami.
Tsunami statistics classify their types in different ways, dividing them by intensity, wave height, origin and number of victims.
Unlike surface waves, which can be caused by strong wind or a storm, a tsunami in the ocean is formed from the bottom to the upper level. A huge volume of water is displaced. The greater the depth of the ocean, the greater the wave height.
A tsunami in the ocean does not pose a serious danger, since most of the wave is underwater. As you approach the shore, the danger increases along with the size of the wave. In shallow water, the rear waves catch up with the front ones, and the superposition of one on top of the other causes an increase in height, in some cases up to 50 meters.
The dangerous factor is the speed of the tsunami. It averages 400–500 km per hour, and in the Pacific Ocean it can reach 800 km per hour.
Before the first powerful wave, there may be a low tide, misleading people vacationing near the coast. The rapidly approaching wave hits the coast and rolls back. However maximum height the tsunami does not occur on the first wave. After two to three hours, the next flow of water floods the seashore and penetrates several kilometers deep, demolishing buildings, people and animals. Sometimes the wave breaks onto land for 10 km or more.
Disasters associated with coastal flooding, as tsunami statistics show, have occurred repeatedly throughout the world. The most destructive waves in human history are presented by year in the table:
| Year | Place | Consequences |
| 365 AD e. | In the Mediterranean | The city of Alexandria in Egypt is demolished, thousands of victims |
| 1737 | In Kamchatka | A wave 30 fathoms high (about 65 meters) flooded the shores, washed away houses, . This was the first tsunami in Russia |
| 1775 | Atlantic Ocean | Six-meter waves covered Portugal, Spain, Morocco |
| 1883 | In Indonesia | The coasts of Java and Sumatra are flooded |
| 1896 | Tsunami in the USA (California) | The city of Santa Barbara is flooded |
| 1896 | Tsunami in Japan | 27122 victims |
| 1906 | Pacific Ocean | Residential areas in Colombia and the city of Rioverde in Ecuador were destroyed, 1,500 victims |
| 1946 | USA | Alaska tsunami destroys lighthouse and reaches Hawaii, killing 159 |
| 1958 | USA (Alaska) | The wave reached a height of 524 m |
| 1960 | Tsunami in Chile | The wave reached 11 meters opposite banks ocean, flooded the Philippines and the island of Okinawa |
| 1964 | USA (Oregon, California) | Tsunami in America destroyed 3 villages, killed 122 people |
| 1976 | Philippines | 5,000 victims |
| 1998 | Papua New Guinea | 2313 victims, seven villages washed away |
| 2004 | In the Indian Ocean (Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives) | The largest tsunami in a 40-year interval, 225,000 victims. The earthquake caused a fault more than 100 km long. |
The last tsunami reported in Thailand in 2004, originating in South Asia, reached the coast of Africa and flooded the coastal area of Somalia. Waves covered the western part of Thailand. The devastating tsunami in Phuket destroyed the entire infrastructure of the resort town.
Karon Beach and other world-famous holiday destinations (Patong, Kamala and Kata) were swept away by the waves. The approaching wave in Phuket was not immediately visible, so especially many tourists died in the coastal area. The number of victims in Thailand reached 8.5 thousand people. Coastal areas in Sri Lanka were flooded for tens of kilometers. This tsunami in India and Indonesia inundated densely populated coastlines, destroying people and buildings.
There was much less destruction in the Maldives, scientists believe that Coral reefs The surrounding islands provide natural protection from high waves.
As tsunami statistics show, the danger of this phenomenon is largely related to the speed of development of events. There is a relationship between characteristics and consequences. Main characteristics of a tsunami:
The degree of destruction and the number of victims depend on all these parameters.
A rapidly approaching tsunami carries in front of it an air flow comparable in strength to a blast wave. Possible consequences tsunami:
As statistics show, tsunamis cannot be prevented. Only a few measures are available to reduce damage from them:
Natural disasters bring losses to the state. And for people, the economy and nature, sometimes irreparable consequences. Thousands of tsunami victims over the past 10 years are a disappointing statistic.
Many people die due to ignorance and wrong actions. Evidence of this is the video of eyewitnesses, not all of whom survived the onset of the disaster, while they were busy filming the bright phenomenon. Such a frivolous attitude towards danger differs from a belated sense of self-preservation.
How to escape from a tsunami? The emerging tsunami threat requires rapid mobilization. Collection of documents and personal belongings must be carried out in as soon as possible. It is optimal to move inland to higher ground, at least 2–3 km from the coast.
The coastal zone receives the strongest blow from the elements. If you are on the beach, then you need to find shelter in a building on a hill, which must be durable. While indoors, you need to close all windows and doors and move to a high floor.
If you are caught by a wave in the sea, you need to brace yourself and cover your head with your hands, take a deep breath, then emerge and throw off excess clothes. After waiting for the return wave, you need to find shelter and take cover. A powerful tree or a solid building behind which you can take shelter can act as protection against a tsunami on the shore.
Going on vacation to countries neighboring Pacific Ocean, it is useful to obtain information about tsunami procedures and the existing warning system. Typically, the victims of a tsunami are people, caught by surprise, and curious tourists who collect shells at low tide, which precedes a powerful wave. The number of destructive waves has increased throughout the world over the past 10 years.
In 2012, a film based on real events, “The Impossible,” was released, dedicated to those who died from the tsunami in Thailand. The consultants were eyewitnesses of the tsunami (a doctor from Spain, her husband and three sons).
The last tsunami in Cyprus occurred in 1908. Scientists believe that destructive waves form in the Mediterranean Sea once every 100 years. The same is true in Greece, Turkey and other countries washed by this sea. Australia is generally considered vulnerable to tsunamis from the east coast of the Pacific Ocean.
In 2016, a powerful earthquake occurred in New Zealand, which caused a wave of 2.5 meters to hit the shores. An infrequent guest of the tsunami in the Dominican Republic. To understand in what years there were tsunamis in this country, let’s look at history:
The latest tsunami statistics do not include this area among the most dangerous. Natural disasters on Far East– a fairly common thing due to its location. Waves covered coastal areas in 1923, 1952 and 1960. Excavations by scientists have discovered that 8,000 years ago, volcanic eruptions caused more than 50 megatsunamis in the region.
Monster waves, white waves, rogue waves, wandering waves - all this is the name of one terrible phenomenon, which can take the ship by surprise. TravelAsk will tell you about the world's biggest waves.
Robber waves are fundamentally different from tsunamis (and we will also definitely tell you about the largest tsunamis). The latter come into action as a result of natural geographical disasters: earthquakes or landslides. A giant wave appears suddenly, and nothing predicts it.
Moreover, they were considered fiction for a long time. Mathematicians even tried to calculate their height and dynamics. However, the cause of the giant waves has never been established.
Such an anomaly was first recorded on January 1, 1995 on the Dropner oil platform in the North Sea off the coast of Norway. The height of the wave reached 25.6 meters, and it was called the Dropner wave. Subsequently, space satellites were used to conduct research. And within three weeks, another 25 giant waves were recorded. In theory, such waves can reach 60 meters.
The largest wave in history was recorded in the Agulhas Current (South Africa) in 1933 by sailors on board the American ship Ramapo. Its height was 34 meters.
In the mid-Atlantic, the Italian transatlantic liner Michelangelo was struck by a rogue wave in April 1966. As a result, two people were washed out to sea and 50 were injured. The ship itself was also damaged.
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In September 1995, the Queen Elizabeth 2 liner recorded a 29-meter wandering wave in the North Atlantic. However, the British transatlantic ship turned out to be not timid: the ship tried to “ride” the giant that appeared right ahead.
In 1980, an encounter with a white wave ended in tragedy for the English cargo ship Derbyshire. The wave broke through the main cargo hatch and flooded the hold. 44 people died. It happened off the coast of Japan, the ship sank.
On February 15, 1982, in the North Atlantic, a huge wave covered a drilling platform owned by Mobil Oil. It broke the windows and flooded the control room. As a result, the platform capsized, killing 84 crew members. This is a sad record to date for the number of deaths from a rogue wave.
In 2000, the British cruise ship Oriana was hit by a 21-meter wave in the North Atlantic. Before this, the liner received a distress signal from a yacht that was damaged by the same wave.
In 2001, still in the same North Atlantic, the luxury tourist liner Bremen was hit by a giant wave. As a result, a window on the bridge was broken, causing the ship to drift for two hours.
Stray waves can also appear on lakes. So, on one of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, the Three Sisters meet - these are three giant waves that follow each other. The ancient Indian tribes who lived in this territory also knew about them. True, according to legend, the waves appeared due to the movement of a giant sturgeon that lived at the bottom. The sturgeon was never discovered, but the Three Sisters appear here and now. In 1975, the bulk carrier Edmund Fitzgerald, whose length was 222 meters, sank precisely because of a collision with these waves.
