TSUNAMI OF APRIL 1, 194 6 — MACDONALD, ET AL. 



259 



and Powers (1946, p. 3). The accompanying table lists all the tsuna- 

 mis noticed on Hawaiian shores, in the period of written history, of 

 which record could be found, together with their sources if known. 

 A total of 27 are listed, or an average of 1 every 4.7 years since 1819. 

 Most of them, however, did little damage. During the same interval 



, ..i^'' ,, v^\ C A N A D A 



y/////,(u--' '^Or/gin of tsunami ^ *, 

 '''''m^^m^/^^' °f April I, 1946 %\ 



HAWAIIAN 



■ -ISLANDS 



■■■ ^MARSHALL 

 •'•■■,' -ISLAND 3 





...PHOENIX IS. 

 ELLICE IS 



SAMOA IS 

 <lj-Ii- ^ SOCIETY .IS., 



AUSTRAL re: • , 



o 



FiouBE 1. — Map of the Pacific basin, showing the position of the Hawaiian Islands, 

 the place of origin of the tsunami of April 1, 1946, and the distribution of seismi- 

 cally active belts around the Pacific in which tsunamis are likely to originate. 



there are listed five severe tsunamis which caused extensive damage, 

 an average of one every 25.6 years. 



Other violent waves have been termed "tidal waves" in the news- 

 papers, but vrere more probably storm waves. Such were the waves 

 which hit Maliko, Maui, on January 28, 1895, and those which struck 

 Kaumalapau on Lanai, and Nawiliwili on Kauai, on May 30, 1924. 



It will be noted that only 2 of the 27 tsunamis listed in the table 

 were of local origin. With the exception of the numerous volcanic 

 earthquakes on the island of Hawaii, which seldom cause tsunamis, 

 the Hawaiian region is only moderately active seismically (Gutenberg 



