- Who
- Lituya Bay 1958 wave
- What
- 524 metre(s)
- Where
- United States (Lituya Bay)
- When
The highest tsunami (giant wave) ever reported was 524 m (1,719 ft) high and occurred along the fjord-like Lituya Bay in Alaska, USA, on 9 July 1958. It was caused by a giant landslip and moved at 160 km/h (100 mph).
This wave was so high it would easily have swamped the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which at 452 m (1,483 ft) are the world's tallest office buildings.
Tsunamis are often incorrectly called tidal waves, when in fact they can be caused by a variety of events, such as volcanic eruptions, extreme weather systems, earthquakes, undersea rockslides and so on.
