![Rolling waves near Twin Rocks, Rockaway Beach, Oregon](https://b1186049.smushcdn.com/1186049/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/twin-rocks01.jpg?lossy=0&strip=1&webp=1)
A simulated tsunami reaches Japan ten hours after its start along the Pacific coast of North America.
On the evening on January 26, 1700 a mysterious tsunami struck the villages and fields on the coast of Japan. After being “orphaned” for over 300 years, scientists have been able to determine that the source was a 8.7 – 9.2 magnitude earthquake off the Oregon and Washington coast.
The evidence uncovered tells of a catastrophe, a century before Lewis and Clark, that now helps guide preparations for future earthquakes and tsunamis in the United States and Canada.