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The landslide‐generated tsunami of November 3, 1994 in Skagway Harbor, Alaska: A case study
Author(s) -
Rabinovich Alexander B.,
Thomson Richard E.,
Kulikov Evgueni A.,
Bornhold Brian D.,
Fine Isaac V.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl002334
Subject(s) - landslide , tide gauge , geology , inlet , cruise , oceanography , seismology , sea level
We examine the origin and behavior of the catastrophic tsunami that impacted Skagway Harbor at the head of Taiya Inlet, Alaska, on November 3, 1994. Geomorphologic and tide gauge data, combined with numerical simulation of the event, reveal that the tsunami was generated by an underwater landslide formed during the collapse of a cruise‐ship dock undergoing construction. Use of a fine‐grid model for Skagway Harbor and a coarse‐grid model for Taiya Inlet enables us to explain many of the eyewitness accounts and to reproduce the dominant oscillations in the tide gauge record, including the persistent (∼1 h) 3‐min oscillation in Skagway Harbor. The occurrence of the landslide is linked to critical overloading of the slope materials at a time of extreme low tide.