PACIFIC TRAGEDY: THE TIDAL WAVE.

SHOWING A TIDAL WAVE SWEEPING UP THE WAILUKU RIVER: THE WRECKED RAILWAY BRIDGE AT HILO, IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

A VICTIM OF THE TIDAL WAVE: A MAN (INDICATED BY AN ARROW) TRAPPED ON WRECKAGE IN THE PATH OF THE FLOOD.

A VIEW OF THE MAIN STREET IN HILO LITTERED WITH DEBRIS AFTER IT HAD BEEN SWEPT BY A TIDAL WAVE.

A submarine earthquake in the ocean bed off Alaska created huge tidal waves which swept on to the shores of Alaskan Gulf, Oregon, California, and the Hawaiian Islands on April 1. It was estimated that the waves covered an area of 2500 miles, doing widespread damage and causing the death of some 200 persons. The Scotch Cap lighthouse station at Unimak, in the Aleutians, was destroyed and its crew of ten swept out to sea. At Hilo, in the Hawaiian Islands, the loss of life was particularly heavy, sixty persons out of the ninety-three reported killed being from this area. Altogether 40,000 persons in the Hawaiian Islands applied to the Red Cross for shelter and assistance.

[This was taken from The British Newspaper Archive, another awesome newspaper site online!]

(Illustrated London News, 4/20/1946, p. 14)

The Illustrated London News, Number 5583, Volume 208, Page 14. April 20, 1946.