"God Spared the Russians"

The first documented Alaskan earthquake occurred during July 1788, perhaps on the 27th day of the month or possibly as early as the 11th. Reports that have survived in the records of the Russian-American Company state that the earthquake lasted 17 days, so there is uncertainty on the dates of large shocks in the series that shook the region of the Alaska Peninsula.

Russian Bishop I. Veniaminov cited a report stating "on 11 July 1788...on Unga there was such a strong earthquake that it was difficult to stand up, many landslides fell, and after a time a terrible flood occurred."

Another report said "The earthquake on Kodiak Island was frightful. After the first shocks, the sea suddenly withdrew from the shore. Then the Koniags (Kodiak people) and the Russians fled into the mountains. After a few minutes, water with great speed and appearing like a mountain surged against the shore."

Repeated tsunamis were characteristic of the 1788 earthquakes, indicating an offshore location for these shocks. That people had enough sense to run inland when the sea withdrew from the shore shows that they were experienced in the ways of tsunamis.

Even so, not everyone survived. Writing in 1840, Veniaminov cited stories about how the flood at Sanak Island "preceded as strong and infrequent walls." In addition to this, I saw a remark in a church book, written in old-fashioned handwriting, which stated that on 27 July 1788 there was such a terrible flood on Unga Island that many Aleuts were killed though God spared the Russians."