The seafloor along the fault was elevated, triggering a Pacific-wide tsunami with multiple destructive waves at heights ranging from 45–138 ft (14–42 m).

Despite the destruction to the Aleutian Island Unimak, the tsunami had almost an imperceptible effect on the Alaskan mainland.

[10] The earthquake struck at 02:29 local time on April 1, 1946, at a shallow depth of 15 km (9.3 mi).

It was calculated by using tsunami run up from Honolulu, Hilo, and the average of stations in California.

These erroneous focal mechanisms were due to a lack of stations recording the earthquake.

This thrust mechanism is consistent with a subduction earthquake helping to relieve stress on the Aleutian Trench.

The tsunami earthquake aspect of this event helps to explain a portion of this massive height; however, the rest must be attributed to a local submarine landslide.

[3] Waves reportedly traveled across the ocean at 500 miles per hour (430 kn; 800 km/h) and measured 55 feet (17 m) high, crest to trough.