Identifying the cause of the 30m high "ghost tsunami" in Alaska

Mysterious tsunami in Alaska caused by landslides, climate change and heavy rains. Scientists are investigating the reason for this event.

The Alaska Earthquake Center had previously received reports of a local tsunami in Endicott Arm on August 10. Waves as high as 3-5m were reported near Harbor Island, while water levels rose to 30m on Sawyer Island. Photo: Mail Online.

Scientists have identified the cause of the mysterious "tsunami" that occurred in Southeast Alaska on August 10. Photo: Mail Online.

Scientists have identified the cause of the mysterious "tsunami" that occurred in Southeast Alaska on August 10. Photo: Mail Online.

“This is the largest landslide in Alaska in the last 10 years,” said Center Director Michael West. Photo: webpronews.com.

According to experts, landslides can cause tsunamis by pushing huge amounts of water out into the surrounding area. Photo: Caters.

“Events like this can be triggered by earthquakes, melting ice or heavy rain,” explains Dr Alec Bennett of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Photo: Caters.

Part of the debris fell into Sawyer Glacier and the rest plunged into Tracy Arm, creating a seiche, or trapped tsunami, that the Earthquake Center said could be the largest tsunami-generating landslide in Alaska since 2015. Photo: Caters.

Scientists have compared the event to the Lituya Bay disaster in 1958, when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake triggered a landslide, creating a super tsunami as high as 524m. Compared to the 1958 incident, the August 10 tsunami was much smaller but still a warning to humanity about the destructive power of nature. Photo: Caters.

“Fjords, lakes and estuaries are particularly vulnerable, as it only takes a large enough mass of rock or soil to cause a rise in the water content,” said Dr Bennett, who warned that climate change, melting ice and extreme rainfall could make such events more frequent in the future. Photo: undark.org.

Readers are invited to watch the video : Behind the success of scientists. Source: VTV24.

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