A recent study has revealed that a mega-tsunami triggered by a landslide in Greenland caused the Earth to vibrate for nine days. The landslide occurred last September when a 1.2-kilometer-high mountain peak collapsed, resulting in water from the fjord below sloshing back and forth, creating vibrations that traveled through the Earth’s crust.
Researchers, including scientists from University College London (UCL), attributed the landslide to the thinning glacier at the mountain’s base, a phenomenon linked to climate change. This unprecedented event originated above Dickson Fjord in eastern Greenland, leaving scientists “completely baffled,” according to Dr. Stephen Hicks, a co-author of the study.
“This event marks the first time that water sloshing has been documented as causing vibrations through the Earth’s crust that traveled globally and lasted several days,” Dr. Hicks from UCL Earth Sciences stated. He noted that while seismometers can detect numerous surface activity sources, such a prolonged and far-reaching seismic wave with only a single frequency of oscillation is a remarkable finding.
The study underscores the complicated connections between atmospheric climate change, glacier destabilization, movements of water bodies, and the Earth’s solid crust. To illustrate the persistence of the water splashing, researchers utilized a mathematical model to simulate the angle of the landslide, revealing that the water splashed back and forth every 90 seconds. This phenomenon sent vibrations through the Earth’s crust, contributing to one of the largest tsunamis in recent history.
According to the study published in the journal Science, the tsunami wave extended 10 kilometers across the fjord and reached a height of 110 meters, although it diminished to 7 meters within minutes.