Alaska earthquake of July 10, 1958: Intensity distribution and field investigation of northern epicentral region

Abstract

The 10 July 1958 earthquake centered near Lituya Bay, Alaska, produced moderate property damage at Yakutat, 100 miles to the northeast, and was readily felt within 400 miles of the epicenter. Five persons died during the earthquake: two in Lituya Bay, where a cataclysmic wave sank two fishing vessels; three others near Yakutat, when a beach on which they were standing fell 100 feet beneath the sea. The earthquake caused large slides in the mountain areas and produced great numbers of sandblows and fissures on the low coastal plain southeast of Yakutat.