Tidal waves, or tsunami, often set off by undersea earthquakes, have caused several major disasters in coastal communities over the years.

References to these waves date back as far as ancient Greece and Rome, including a wave that shook the Eastern Mediterranean on July 21, 365, killing thousands of residents of Alexandria, Egypt.

Among other notable tsunami:

July 17, 1998, an offshore quake triggers a wave that strikes the north coast of Papua-New Guinea killed some 2,000 people and left thousands more homeless.

August 16, 1976, a tsunami killed more than 5,000 people in the Moro Gulf region of the Philippines.

March 28, 1964, Good Friday earthquake in Alaska sent out a wave that swamped much of the Alaskan coast and destroyed three villages. The wave killed 107 people in Alaska, four in Oregon and 11 in California.

May 22, 1960, a wave reported as up to 11 metres high killed 1,000 in Chile and caused damage in Hawaii, where 61 died, and in the Philippines, Okinawa and Japan as it swept across the Pacific.

April 1, 1946, an Alaskan quake generated a tsunami that destroyed a North Cape Lighthouse, killing five. Hours later the wave arrived at Hilo, Hawaii. It killed 159 people.

January 31, 1906, a devastating offshore quake submerged part of Tumaco, Colombia, and washed away every house on the coast between Rioverde, Ecuador, and Micay, Colombia. The death toll was estimated at 500 to 1,500.

June 15, 1896, the Sanriku tsunami struck Japan without warning. A wave estimated at more than 23 metres high hits a crowd gathered to celebrate a religious festival, killing more than 26,000 people.

(China Daily 12/27/2004 page7)