New study confirms landslide in Alaska triggered 1,500-foot megatsunami last August

A new study finds that a megatsunami in Alaska pushed water more than 1,500 feet up the sides of a fjord near Juneau. Researchers say more monitoring is needed to prevent future catastrophes.

(WWU Professor of Geology) JACQUELINE CAPLAN-AUERBACH: The fact that it took place at 5:30 in the morning was really just unimaginably lucky.

HERSHER: Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach is a seismologist and one of the authors of the new study, which was published in the journal Science.

CAPLAN-AUERBACH: Had this happened several hours later, it's far more likely there would have been boats in the area when that huge tsunami came down.