Huge landslide created a 500-meter-high tsunami in a major tourist area
Summary
On August 10, 2025, a huge landslide in Alaska’s Tracy Arm fjord caused a massive tsunami with waves reaching 481 meters high. This event was linked to glacier ice melting due to climate warming, which made a steep rock slope unstable and caused it to collapse into the water.Key Facts
- A rock mass of at least 63.5 million cubic meters fell into Tracy Arm fjord early on August 10, 2025.
- The landslide created an initial wave 100 meters high, traveling over 70 meters per second across the fjord.
- The wave surged up to 481 meters above sea level on the opposite shore, the second highest tsunami recorded on Earth.
- No injuries or deaths were reported because the event happened early in the morning in a mostly unpopulated area.
- The collapse happened because the South Sawyer Glacier, which supported the rock slope, had thinned and retreated due to rising temperatures.
- Since 1875, summer temperatures in the area have increased by about 1.1°C, causing glaciers to shrink and snowlines to rise.
- Before the collapse, small local earthquakes indicated rock movements inside the slope, increasing in frequency just before the landslide.
- Scientists used satellite images and seismic data to reconstruct the event and understand the glacier’s role in causing the landslide and tsunami.
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