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Available Books Scotch Cap Lighthouse
Lost Lighthouses

BooksNorthern Lights: Tales of Alaska's
Lighthouses and
Their Keepers
Hardcover
- 128 pages

BooksPacific Northwest Lighthouses :
Oregon to the
Aleutians Paperback
- 96 pages

 The lighthouse was demolished by a 100' high tsunami in 1946 caused by 2 earthquakes that were only 27 minutes apart. The earthquakes were vertical, floor-shifts. The first one measured 7.3 in magnitude. The massive wave took only 45 minutes to reach Scotch Cap from it's epicenter.

The same tsunami was responsible for the Hilo, HI waves that leveled many of the coastal towns on that side of the island more than 2500 miles away. That tsunami was the cause of 159 deaths. It only took 5:45 hours to travel 2500 miles.

Because tsunami are born from the ocean's floor at the time of an earthquake... the displacement of water is emense. Rather than using the force of the moon's gravitational pull and the rotation of the earth... those waves are a result of huge amounts of water being pushed at the same time. The flow of water is nearly constant from the ocean's floor to the surface and when it reaches the land the waves can be 40'-80' high (average)... the wave that demolished Scotch Cap was over 100'.

All that was left of the lighthouse was the base. The structure was built in 1940. It was 40 feet above the sea and was five stories high. All five men stationed at the lighthouse died in the accident.
Before After
Scotch Cap Light - Before Scotch Cap Light - After
Click on the photos above for a larger view.
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