Biggest Tsunami Countdown

This is a countdown of the five biggest

tsunami waves, in recorded history. Each
tsunami has been judged on a scale of the
destruction they caused, and the number of
lives lost.
 Biggest Tsunami Countdown #5:
The Chilean Tsunami of 1960
On May 22, 1960, the strongest magnitude earthquake in recorded
history, occurred off the coast of South Central Chile. Measuring 9.5
on the Richter scale, it triggered a tsunami 30 feet high. 
Nearly fifteen minutes after the earthquake, the tsunami first hit land,
flooding more than 500 miles of the Chilean coast. The estimated cost
was more than $550 million (1960 dollars), and loss of life was
estimated at 2,000.
The waves hit Hilo, Hawaii, 15 hours later, killing 61 people and
badly injuring 282 others.
22 hours later it reached Japan and 122 Japanese people lost their lives
to the torrential water. 
By the time the Pacific-wide tsunami had subsided, the total fatalities
is thought to have been as high as 3,000 lives lost.
 Biggest Tsunami Countdown #4:The 1908
Messina-Reggio Earthquake
On the early morning of December 28, 1908, the Italian city of
Messina awoke to the deadliest earthquake in European history.
The 7.2 magnitude quake shook for nearly 30 seconds, toppling
several story buildings and burying alive it's occupants.
Minutes later, the tsunami came, measuring somewhere
between 20 to 40 feet high. The waves were gradually followed
by smaller ones, until the water finally subsided.
When it was over, the city of Messina, which only had a
population of 150,000, had been entirely destroyed, along with
the nearby city of Reggio di Calabria, and other outlying areas.
It is estimated that the combined earthquake and tsunami killed
almost 100,000 people, that fateful December morning. 
 Biggest Tsunami Countdown #3:
The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755
At 9:30, on the morning of All Saints Day, the Portuguese city of Lisbon was
rocked with an estimated 9 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter was west-
southwest of Cape St. Vincent, located in the Atlantic Ocean. Three
earthquake jolts which lasted a combined time of ten minutes, created large
cracks in the earth up to 16 feet apart, tearing open the heart of Lisbon.

Nearly 30 minutes after the earthquake, a destructive tsunami hit the shores
of Portugal, and rushed up the Tagus River. Two more tsunami waves
followed, as people were swept out to sea, laying the land bare. In some
places, the waves reached as high as 98 feet, (that's 30 meters high). 

The destruction was almost complete. In Lisbon, eighty-five percent of its

buildings had been destroyed, with fires that continued to rage for days.
Over 100,000 people perished, forever changing the history of Europe and
the rest of the world. 
 Biggest Tsunami Countdown #2:
The 1883 Krakatau, Indonesia Tsunami
On August 27, 1883, one of the largest volcano eruptions in history, set off a
devastating series of tsunamis. The sound of the volcanic explosions were felt
over two and a half thousand miles

The Krakatau event registered a 6 on the VEI (Volcanic Explosivity Index),

which is a scale devised to measure the relative size of an explosive eruption. A
VEI 6 is described as "colossal," having a plume height less than approx. fifteen
miles (twenty-five kilometers), and ejecting a volume less than two hundred
and thirty-eight miles of tephra.

When a caldera on Krakatau Island measuring 4.3 miles (seven kilometers),

collapsed during the 1883 eruption, it created tsunamis that crashed into the
Sumatra and Java coastlines of Indonesia. Some waves reached as high as one
hundred and forty feet (forty meters), and were felt over four thousand miles
away (seven thousand kilometers). One hundred and sixty-five villages were
wiped out, killing over 36,000 people. 
 Biggest Tsunami Countdown #1:
The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
On the morning after Christmas, a 9.15 magnitude
undersea earthquake triggered a series of events
that would forever change the way we looked at
the water. Within hours of the earthquake, the
coasts of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and
other countries, were deluged with waves, some as
high as 49 feet. 

With over 310,000 people killed in a dozen

countries, it has become known as one of the most
deadliest disasters of modern history. 
 Largest Tsunami

Although the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on December 26, 2004

resulted in perhaps the most devastating tsunami ever recorded, the
height of the wave was about 100 feet, far from the largest.
On July 09, 1958 in Lituya Bay, Alaska an earthquake measuring 8.3 on the
Richter scale resulted in 40 million cubic meters of rock to fall into the
sea.
As the wave swept through Lituya Bay it was forced to rise up, reaching a
height of 1,720 feet or 40 feet short of a third of a mile.
Although the hillsides in the bay were devastated, the damage was very
localized and as Lituya Bay is very remote, there were very few casualties.
The Lituya Bay tsunami was labeled a mega-tsunami, but it was relatively
very small compared to what would happen if the big one hits.
The island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands is in danger of collapsing
into the sea and if it does happen it will create a true mega-tsunami.