The biggest tsunamis in history

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BY SADE AGARD

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A tsunami is one of Earth's most powerful and catastrophic natural events, capable of decimating whole islands and communities in minutes. Here are the most destructive ones in history.

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In 1958, the largest- somewhat apocalyptic- tsunami wave ever to be witnessed broke out on a cool July night.

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After a 7.8 magnitude earthquake 13 miles away, a 1,720-foot tsunami, higher than the Willis Tower in Chicago, loomed over Lituya Bay, a quiet fjord in Alaska (U.S.).

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Dr. Jenna Crowe-Riddell

On October 9, 1963, the top of Monte Toc, which sits on the border of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy, gave way.

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This released 260 million cubic meters of rock into Vajont Dam's reservoir- one of the largest dams in the world at the time.

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On October 17, 2015, a historic megatsunami struck the remote Alaskan fjord of Icy Bay.

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The 633-foot wave removed eight square miles of forest from Wrangell St.-Elias National Park and Preserve.

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