Case file · Folklore / legend
Thunderbird and Whale: the 1700 earthquake
Coastal peoples from Vancouver Island to northern California tell of shaking and floods that destroyed villages; geologists now tie these accounts to the Cascadia earthquake of 26 January 1700.
1700 CE · 48.79, -125.12 · status: legend
The account
Huu-ay-aht oral history tells that the village at Pachena Bay was wiped out one winter night. Makah, Quileute and Nuu-chah-nulth stories describe a battle between Thunderbird and Whale that shook the earth. A 2005 paper by Ruth Ludwin and colleagues collected these traditions, and Japanese records of an 'orphan tsunami' fix the date.
Connections in the atlas
- Sisiutl, the double-headed serpent (Kwakwaka'wakw)
- Thunderbird and Whale
- Bridge of the Gods