A history nugget from maritime writer Peter Marsh concerns a tsunami and landslide that hit Puget Island, Washington, on Jan. 30, 1965.

Actually, according to the Wahkiakum County Eagle, Oregon was the cause of the disaster when a soaking wet hillside slid into the Columbia River at about 1:20 a.m., causing a “30-foot shock wave” that headed right for Puget Island.

Norwegian immigrant Haakan Gabrielsen was killed (the only death) when the wave shattered his house, then lifted Bessie Olsen‘s house (pictured) right off its foundation. Olsen’s neighbor, John Aegerter, found her house in his field.

“When we got (to Olsen’s house), Leroy (Wika) and I knocked the upstairs window out to get her out,” Elroy Svensen said. “It was about 6 feet from the ground. We heard Mrs. Olsen say, ‘You are wrecking my house!’ … It wasn’t very easy to get her out, she was a fair size woman, and getting her down to ground level wasn’t easy.”

The wreckage was mainly to the island’s dike; the county engineer reported it “had lost approximately one-half foot in elevation on 3,100 feet of length.” And, about 4,000 feet of public utilities line had to be rebuilt. The island’s residents rallied to help clean up the mess left in the tsunami’s wake.

“Haakon just got the brunt of it,” Aegerter recalled. “Somehow his cat survived. We adopted him.” (Photo: Aegerter Family/Wahkiakum County Eagle)