Prehistoric tsunamis

Prehistoric tsunamis are tsunamis and so-called "megatsunamis" that occurred before recorded history. The events have been identified through oral tradition and/or geological evidence. Those events that have been identified through contemporary records are listed as historic tsunamis.

## List

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This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (June 2012)

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Approx. date | Location | Cause | Evidence for tsunami

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66 million years BP | Chicxulub crater, Yucatan | asteroid strike  | presumed[1][2]
35.5 million years BP  | Chesapeake Bay | bolide impact  | presumed[3]
10,000 yrs BP  | Seton Portage, British Columbia | landslide into lake  | presumed[4]
8,000 years BP  | Mount Etna, Sicily | volcanic landslide | submarine sediments off Etna, submerged settlements off eastern Mediterranean coast, e.g. Atlit Yam[5][6]
8,000 years BP  | Norwegian Sea | submarine landslip (Storegga Slide)  | deposited sediments in Scotland[7][8]
5,500 BP  | Northern Isles | tsunami (Garth tsunami)  | deposits and contemporaneous mass burials[9]
4,000 BP  | Réunion island  | landslide  | presumed[10]

## References

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1. ^ Bryant, Edward (June 2014). Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard. Springer. p. 178\. ISBN 978-3-319-06133-7.
2. ^ Renne, Paul R.; Deino, Alan L.; Hilgen, Frederik J.; Kuiper, Klaudia F.; Mark, Darren F.; Mitchell, William S.; Morgan, Leah E.; Mundil, Roland; Smit, Jan (7 February 2013). "Time Scales of Critical Events Around the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary" (PDF). Science. 339 (6120): 684–687\. Bibcode:2013Sci...339..684R. doi:10.1126/science.1230492. PMID 23393261. S2CID 6112274.
3. ^ Poag, C. Wiley. Chesapeake Invader: Discovering America's Giant Meteorite Crater. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-691-00919-8
4. ^ "SetonPortage.ca website". Archived from the original on 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
5. ^ Than, Ker (2006-11-30). "Ten-Story Tsunami Thrashed Mediterranean 8,000 Years Ago". Fox News. Retrieved 2005-12-20.
6. ^ Hecht, Jeff (2006-12-13). "How Etna's Neolithic Hiccup Set Off a Tsunami". New Scientist. Retrieved 2005-12-20.
7. ^ Bondevik, Stein; Dawson, Sue; Dawson, Alastair; Lohne, Øystein (5 August 2003). "Record-breaking Height for 8000-Year-Old Tsunami in the North Atlantic" (PDF). Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. 84 (31): 289, 293. Bibcode:2003EOSTr..84..289B. doi:10.1029/2003EO310001. hdl:1956/729. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
8. ^ Bondevik, S; Lovholt, F; Harbitz, C; Stormo, S; Skjerdal, G (2006). "The Storegga Slide Tsunami – Deposits, Run-up Heights and Radiocarbon Dating of the 8000-Year-Old Tsunami in the North Atlantic". American Geophysical Union meeting.
9. ^ Cain, Genevieve; Goff, James; McFadgen, Bruce (1 June 2019). "Prehistoric Coastal Mass Burials: Did Death Come in Waves?". Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. 26 (2): 714–754\. doi:10.1007/s10816-018-9386-y. ISSN 1573-7764.
10. ^ Mega-tsunami: Wave of Destruction. Background article. BBC Two television programme first broadcast 12 October 2000

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