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Somass River rises from tsunami

Jul 31, 2025 | 9:14 AM

Port Alberni weather watcher Chris Alemany stayed up late Tuesday to document the tsunami waves that hit Port Alberni.
He said the first wave hit shortly after 1 am, causing the river flow to reverse temporarily before the larger second wave arrived.

“You could really see the flow in the water and the buoy getting washed around,” he said. “The second wave was actually the bigger one because the tide was coming in, and because the first wave came in at low tide, the tsunami went out, but then it came back in within about 20 minutes. It came up by a good metre so it was just rushing into the river. It was really quite something to see.
Alemany said he’s thankful there were no boats on the river as they could have faced difficulties with the surging waves.
Collin Paul, a seismic analyst with Natural Resources Canada, said the largest waves on Vancouver Island were seen in Port Alberni, where initial waves measured 50 centimetres.
In Tofino, the largest waves were 15 centimetres, while Victoria saw 12 centimetres.