A Landslide Caused A Massive 100-Metre-High Tsunami In BC & Set Off Earthquake Sensors
It was reportedly detected as far away as Australia.
Coastal mountains in B.C.
A massive landslide in a remote area of B.C. was so big that it actually caused a lake tsunami over 100 metres high.
CTV reports that the landslide even set off earthquake sensors, one of which in New York City registered it as equal to a 5.0-magnitude quake.
It was even detected by earthquake sensors as far away as Australia and Japan, according to CTV.
The study was published last month in Geophysical Research Letters and said that the huge landslide and events that followed actually happened on November 28, 2020.
The study says that it was caused by a retreating glacier in the southern Coastal Mountains, a phenomenon that often exposes "unstable slopes," which can lead to landslides.
This area in B.C. is actually "experiencing some of the highest rates of glacier mass loss on Earth," the study says.
Marten Geertsema, the lead author of the paper, told CTV that the landslide had "a mass equal to all of the automobiles in Canada."
That massive landslide then entered an alpine lake, referred to as Elliot Lake, and cause the tsunami. Although it was in a remote area, there were disastrous consequences to the nearby surroundings.
"Displaced water destroyed salmon-spawning habitat over a distance of 8.5 km and created a plume of sediment and organic matter more than 60 km from the head of the fjord into which the floodwaters discharged," says the study.
The tsunami and flooding also destroyed around 3 square kilometres of forest area.
The study adds that the models of this event can be used to "improve hazard and risk assessments of these events under future climate change," as glacier retreat is accelerating globally.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.