Hebgen Lake earthquake

Multiple summer homes and a popular vacation lodge on Lake Hebgen were nestled inside Madison Canyon, just west of Yellowstone National Park. And just beyond the Hebgen Lake Dam was the perfect spot for both the Rock Creek and Cliff Lake Campgrounds. On August 17, 1959, the entire area was teeming with late summer tourists, campers and fishermen. It was just past 11 pm and many people had already turned in for the night, expecting no more than a peaceful night’s sleep.

At 11:37 pm the peace of that night came to an abrupt halt as the earth shook with a Richter magnitude earthquake estimated between 7.3 and 7.5. Within seconds the earth along and under Hebgen Lake tilted along its length by as much as 20 feet (6 m), causing seiches (up to 20ft waves) to surge across the lake for the next 12 hours. At the same time a landslide of 80 million tons (40 million cubic yards) of rock, mud and debris slid from the canyon walls over the Madison River and parts of the campgrounds at a speed of 100mph, creating hurricane-force winds, blocking the river and forming a new Quake Lake that would eventually be 190 ft deep. Area highways cracked, buckled and collapsed making escape and rescue difficult and in some cases, impossible.

In addition to the 11 million dollars in damage, there were 28 fatalities including 19 campers who were buried under the massive landslide and never recovered. In nearby Yellowstone National Park, new geysers and cracks sprouted up and the earthquake damaged the Old Faithful Inn, forcing guests there to evacuate.

As you can see from my photos, ever after 57 years evidence of the quake is still very visible and there are visitor areas which detail the entire event. The area is beautiful now but being tourists ourselves, it was easy to imagine how helpless and terrified these people must have been.