Destruction of the first nations village of Kwalate by a rock avalanche‐generated tsunami

Abstract

The First Nations (Da ‘naxda ‘xw) village of Kwalate, Knight Inlet, British Columbia was located along the shore of a funnel‐shaped bay. Archaeological investigations show that this was a major village that stretched 90 m along the shoreline and was home to possibly 100 or more inhabitants. Oral stories indicate that the village was completely swept away by a tsunami that formed when an 840‐m high rock avalanche descended into the water on the opposite side of the fjord. Shipboard geological mapping, combined with empirical tsunami modelling, indicate that the tsunami was likely 2 to 6 m high prior to run‐up into the village. Radiocarbon dates reveal that the village was occupied from the late 1300s CE until the late 1500s CE when it was destroyed by the tsunami.