Washingtonians breathed a sigh of relief when an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia brought only small waves to the coast without triggering destructive tsunamis.

But what many might not know is that two tsunami waves already hit the state just last November — 300 miles inland.

When most people think of a tsunami, they picture giant ocean waves crashing into coastal cities. But more often than not, tsunamis in Washington are triggered by landslides, and most of them occur at Lake Roosevelt.

The giant Columbia River reservoir behind the Grand Coulee Dam covers almost 125 square miles, as it reaches nearly to the Canadian border. After construction of the dam was finished in 1941, the waters behind it became a national recreation area that attracts more than 1.5 million visitors a year.

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