What? I've never heard that before - are you serious? I always figured a big one might cause a crack that would drain the lake into the Carson Valley. Lakefront property would then be "canyonfront".
Completely serious...even posted on FR about it before.
http://www.seismo.unr.edu/htdocs/WGB/LakeTahoeTsunami/2colpaper.aw.pdf
The potential hazard from tsunami and seiche waves generatedby large earthquakes within Lake Tahoe, California-Nevada
Gene A. Ichinose and John G. Anderson
Nevada Seismological Laboratory, Reno, Nevada
Kenji Satake
Geological Survey of Japan, Earthquake Research Department, Tsukuba, Japan
Rich A. Schweickert and Mary M. Lahren
University of Nevada, Department of Geological Sciences, Reno, Nevada
Abstract. We investigate the potential of local earthquakes to
generate tsunamis and seiches within Lake Tahoe. We calculated
the long wavelength oscillations generated by 3 hypothetical Mw >
7 earthquake scenarios for faults with normal slip directly under
and outside the lake basin. The scenarios involving fault slip under
the lake are the North Tahoe-Incline Village and West
Tahoe-Dollar Point scenarios. The Genoa scenario involves a fault
that crops out 10 km east of the lake. Faulting beneath the lake
generates a tsunami followed by a seiche that continues for hours
with waves as large as 3 to 10 m. The seiche potentially threatens
low lying lakeside communities and lifelines. We also compare the
spectral characteristics of synthetic tide gauge records with wind
swell observations. The fundamental mode calculated for a seiche
is consistent with the wind swell observations.
Introduction
Large prehistoric earthquakes have occurred beneath Lake
Tahoe [Hyne et al., 1972; Schweickert et al., 1999]. Considering
the size and active tectonic history of Tahoe, it is reasonable to ask
if moment magnitude (Mw) 7 earthquakes can generate large
devastating tsunamis and seiches. In an enclosed basin, we will
refer to the tsunami as the initial wave produced by coseismic
displacement from an earthquake and the seiche as the harmonic
resonance within the lake.
At least it's a pretty darn short distance to run to get 50 feet above the lake if you're on the beach, from what I understand about Tahoe. And since Tahoe is small you'd only have to do so if the quake you feel was strong enough to literally knock you off your feet; any small or moderate quakes you'd feel would be too small to cause a tsunami or would be a quake distant from Tahoe.
Don't have a whole lot of time probably to get 50 feet up, though; probably a couple of minutes, tops.
yeah Tsunami is a possibility in Tahoe