Much of the research was conducted in Grays Harbor where Brian was quoted saying, “When I started out [in the late 80s], a lot of these dangers were not all that clear. If you look at what we know now, it beats you over the head.” So, when he discovered the stand of dead trees bordering Leo’s future campground up the river, it was a new and exciting milestone—even thought they’d been there for more than three centuries and the Quinaults and had been retelling the story all along. For most everyone else, it was big news.
Science confirmed through tree ring analysis and soil samples taken at multiple sites that a significant layer of sand was deposited between layers of dirt—suggesting a single event killed the trees. Data in hand and clear evidence of how violent the event was, it was a matter of finding supporting evidence across the pond, and that’s how Japan’s orphan tsunami on Jan 26, 1700, was reunited with its parent and it’s also how we know the exact time of 9:00 pm.
When the puzzle came together, it revealed a magnitude 9 earthquake off our coast so violent the ground dropped four to six feet, allowing saltwater to rush in and killing the trees instantly. Brian explained the physical proof in 1990, at a marsh in Westport when he dug through three feet of tidal mudflats to find a forest floor, still intact with dead plants covered by mud.
