1946 year. Hawaiian Islands. On April 1, at the bottom of the so-called Aleutian trench in the depths of the Pacific, a giant earthquake occurred, which gave rise to a monster. Those very deadly waves that, having burst into the heavenly beaches of Hawaii, rushed on, rapidly closing, as the then newspapers wrote, the ring of fire of hell.
British seismologist Wood Guthrie, who studied tidal anomalies on deserted sandbanks and miraculously escaped thanks to the powerful engine of an all-terrain jeep, a year later noted: “Whirling craters formed on the sand of the beach. Some of the equipment that I laid out at a distance from the tide was, like a vacuum cleaner, absorbed and irretrievably lost. The walls of water, like porcupine quills, were noticed by me from a distance. Realizing that procrastination was like death, I jumped into the jeep and five minutes later was at the top of the nearest hill. From there, I watched as the yellow-green waves, with red ridges pierced by the sun's rays, ran ashore and, pausing, fell slightly. I was sure they were high enough to cover the hill where I took refuge under the thin iron of the machine.
I was lucky. Rounding off the most powerful shaft, like a bucket, dug the deepest pit ten meters from me. The Savior Hill was cut from the north side like a razor. And in the pit there was a small coast guard boat. When the waves rumbled in my rear, I saw with joy, mixed with horror, that five sailors, pale, but whole, staggering, get out on the deck of their vessel."
Hilou meteorologist on duty Angela Veil shared her observations no less surprising: “At night we were informed that the earthquake source fraught with a tsunami in our region was at a distance of three thousand seven hundred kilometers. At seven o'clock in the morning, we watched, not without inner tremors, as a fifteen-meter wave of dirty water mixed with bottom algae covered the nearest bungalows. The waves retreated and advanced with the periodicity of the swinging pendulum. And then we saw the corpses carried away by them. Almost no one was saved. They died before they could wake up from sleep. Those who climbed the palm trees also faced an unenviable fate. They died from electric shock when power line poles collapsed. We escaped because we climbed the tower in time, where instruments for measuring wind speed are installed,air conductivity, meteorological balloon launch”.
The ocean rocked for several more days. Rocked strangely. In some places, its surface rose almost on the edge. The water rustled like crumpled newsprint, and in the twilight it shone brightly, as if in the depths someone was turning fiery wheels. In the sunlight, at a short distance from the coast, coal-black, quivering ripples were visible, occasionally showing breakers, topped with thick yellow foam.
However, only scientists who came from all over America, from Canada, Mexico were interested in these natural anomalies. A detachment of thousands of volunteers armed with various technical means did something completely different. He restored energy and water supply systems, built new housing, carried out landscaping works.
To prevent this from happening again, the latest early and current warning stations were put into operation. “The equipment is insanely expensive, and, perhaps, it will be able to tell you when to get away with your feet,” Hans Studlt, chief specialist of the Crocus electronic company, jokingly grimly joked. The equipment, fortunately, did not signal any more alarms. But he can apply at any time. Nowadays, tied with the help of artificial earth satellites into the Global Seismic Monitoring System, she hears and sees very well. Despite this, the paradise of the Hawaiian Islands can easily become hell.