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Whittier AK to Crescent City CA in 5 Hours

While in Whittier, Alaska we learned about the devastating 1964 earthquake that destroyed the town. Traveling south along the coast, we have been constantly aware of tsunami dangers via placards, handouts, signs, and warning sirens blasting the weekly test of the tsunami warning system. Today, after arriving in Crescent City, California, we discover that Crescent City is also known as Tsunami City USA. It got the name after having recorded 31 tsunami waves since 1933.

5 short hours after the 1964 earthquake in Alaska, a huge tsunami hit Crescent City in 4 waves. The first 3 resulted in minor flooding, giving most a chance to evacuate. The 4th wave hit shortly after killing 11, flattening 29 city blocks, and destroying over 290 homes & buildings.

Peggy & Roxey Coons, Batter Point Lighthouse Keepers
Picture courtesy of Del Norte County Historical Society

Offshore from Crescent City, the Battery Point Lighthouse Keepers, Peggy & Roxey Coons, tells it :
“The water withdrew as if someone had pulled the plug. It receded a distance of three-quarters of a mile from the shore. We were looking down, as though from a high mountain, into a black abyss. It was a mystic labyrinth of caves, canyons, basins, and pits, undreamed of in the wildest of fantasies.
The basin was sucked dry. At Citizen’s Dock, the large lumber barge was sucked down to the ocean bottom. In the distance, a black wall of water was rapidly building up, evidenced by a flash of white as the edge of the boiling and seething seawater reflected the moonlight. The Coast Guard cutter and small crafts, that had been riding the waves a safe two- miles offshore, seemed to be riding high above the ‘wall’ of seawater. Then the mammoth wall of seawater came barreling towards us. It was a terrifying mass, stretching up from the ocean floor and looking much higher than the island.
When the tsunami assaulted the shore, it was like a violent explosion. A thunderous roar mingled with all the confusion. Everywhere we looked, buildings, cars, lumber, and boats shifted around like crazy. The whole beachfront moved, changing before our very eyes.”

Unknown artist’s map of the tsunami.
Courtesy of Del Norte County Historical Society
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High Ground

In Vermont, we watch the weather for ice because it means travel will be dicey. When we go to a hotel, we always look for the exits, in case of fire. When we stay in a campground we look for the bathrooms, you want to be close, but not too close, if you know what I mean. On the Oregon Coast, we always look for the high ground. No, it isn’t because we are from the mountains and crave altitude, it is because of tsunamis. You can’t go anywhere on the coast without being reminded that you are in a tsunami zone. It doesn’t keep you awake at night, but all the signage certainly keeps your eyes searching for higher ground.

Everywhere you go, there are maps of evacuation routes.
And signs on the benches reminding you.
And signs on the roads letting you know when you are enterring or leaving tsunami zones.
Even the places we stay have maps or directions on how to get to higher ground.

Tidbit: The last tsunami to hit the Oregon coast, that I could find, was in 1964. It was triggered by the great Alaskan quake in Prince William Sound.