Alaska megatsunami confirmed as second tallest ever recorded
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 6
Alaska megatsunami confirmed as second tallest ever recorded
16 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 6
New analysis says tiny earthquakes triggered a 64 million-cubic-metre landslide in southeast Alaska's Tracy Arm Fjord, generating a nearly 500-metre wave last summer.
Researchers said the early-morning timing probably spared tourist cruise ships, while glacier melt had destabilised the cliff by removing ice that once supported the rock.
Scientists warn warming-driven glacier retreat could make such collapses far more frequent in Alaska's steep fjords, prompting calls for wider hazard monitoring and some cruise operators to avoid Tracy Arm.
Beyond the tsunami, are Alaska's growing glacial lakes becoming a greater, more immediate threat to its coastal communities?
Cruise ships now avoid Tracy Arm, but are other Alaskan fjords being monitored to prevent the next mega tsunami?