Abstract
The study of Alaskan tsunamis presents a number of problems. The first European visitors and settlers were Russian fur traders first arriving in 1741, and the written record for more than the first century is mainly in old style Russian script A sparse population, particularly in the highly active Aleutian Islands, continues to the present day. There are tectonically-generated tsunamis predominantly from the Aleutian Arc and Alaskan Peninsula, at least one volcanic tsunami from a landslide from an erupting volcano, and, most important locally, subaerial and submarine landslide tsunamis from the Prince William Sound and southeastern Alaska The latter are related to the glacial topography and have caused most of the fatalities and damage. They are usually associated with a single bay and occur almost immediately after the triggering earthquake, posing severe problems for warnings and evasive actions. Teletsunamis have historically not been a significant problem.
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Lander, J.F. (1995). Alaskan Tsunamis Revisited. In: Tsuchiya, Y., Shuto, N. (eds) Tsunami: Progress in Prediction, Disaster Prevention and Warning. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8565-1_11
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