Page "lore" Paragraph 605

Generally the first salvo of a tsunami is a rather sharp swell, not different enough from an ordinary wave to alarm casual observers.

This is followed by a tremendous suck of water away from the shore as the first great trough arrives.

Reefs are left high and dry, and the beaches are covered with stranded fish.

At Hilo large numbers of people ran out to inspect the amazing spectacle of the denuded beach.

Many of them paid for their curiosity with their lives, for some minutes later the first giant wave roared over the shore.

After an earthquake in Japan in 1793 people on the coast at Tugaru were so terrified by the extraordinary ebbing of the sea that they scurried to higher ground.

When a second quake came, they dashed back to the beach, fearing that they might be buried under landslides.

Just as they reached the shore, the first huge wave crashed upon them.