Waves demolished 77 homes and other buildings. From Honokohau in the west to Hana in the east, 14 people were killed and another 550 homeless. The waves caused a lot of damage to Maui, too. And I said, ‘Oh, that’s good-bye to Hilo.’ ” -Kapua Heuer Well, it hit buildings, the lighthouse, and the railroad track, and everything. You look and people were stomping, trying to reach earth, trying to get out. “I looked out here and saw this great big black wall coming in like this. The University of Hawaii’s Center For Oral History recorded chilling accounts from survivors of the 1946 wave: Many victims were swept out to sea by receding water. Witnesses told of waves inundating streets, homes, and storefronts. Damage at the time was estimated to be $25 million. In Hilo, the death toll was high: 173 were killed, 163 injured, 488 buildings were demolished and 936 more were damaged. Waves reportedly traveled across the ocean at 500 miles an hour and measured 55 feet high, crest to trough, according to the USGS. The most destructive tsunami in Hawaii occurred on Apafter an earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale struck the ocean floor off the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Shiro, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center told the New York Times last year.īut tsunamis have also caused major damage and some loss of life in Hawaii, most recently in 1975, when two people were killed, Shiro said. The first waves hit right about 10:30 p.m., but instead of predicted 7-foot waves, none were higher than about 2.5 feet.Īnd as it turns out, Hawaii has indeed experienced many regional warnings - including one in 1994 - that passed with no tsunami impact at all, Brian R. UPDATE: Officials evacuated Waikiki again on October 27, 2012, after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake off the coast of British Columbia generated a tsunami that officials decided was headed straight for the islands. A warning on Februled Hawaii officials to clear Waikiki of sunbathers and swimmers. That’s a lot different from the surge that failed to materialize during a tsunami event last year. The earliest on record was reported in 1813 or 1814 - and the worst occurred in 1946, killing 173 people. Hawaii residents might have trouble remembering the last time a tsunami devastated the islands, but a look at the history books shows Hawaii has indeed been hit by its share of destructive waves.

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