Shocking moment caught on camera when fishermen got surprised by the incredible power of a tsunami wave which hit Greenland's west coast. Luckily all three were able to escape the wave just in time. Subscribe for more crazy videos ► youtube.com/c/LicetStudios?sub_confirmation=1

In the evening of June 17th, 2017 (at about 9:40 pm local time), a gigantic landslide (measuring 300 m × 1,100 m = 980 ft × 3,610 ft) occurred on the southern slope of the Umiammakku Nunaat peninsula. Several dozen million cubic meters of rock and slope sediments fell about 1 km (3,300 ft) into the Kangilleq fjord, which triggered a tsunami that moved westward into the Karrat fjord complex. The tsunami wave, which was initially over 90 meters high (about 300 ft.), reached the small village Nuugaatsiaq with a wave height of about ten meters (about 30 ft.). It took the catastrophic wave only seven minutes to cover the 32 kilometers distance to Nuugaatsiaq, which means it reached an average speed of 275 km/h. The tsunami dragged four people out to sea, who have since been considered dead. Furthermore, seven people were slightly injured and two people were seriously injured by the catastrophic natural disaster. Eleven buildings were destroyed. Rescue helicopters brought the approximately 200 local residents to the district capital of Uummannaq.

In 2018, a Swiss company observed the situation and found that the mountain slipped about 1 cm every day and one could expect another landslide at any time. The risk for this was rated at 11.5 out of 12, which is why a resettlement at this time was further excluded. Shortly thereafter it was announced that there was still danger from the mountain slope, making it impossible to end the evacuation. The village of Nuugaatsiaq has since been abandoned.

Was the Greenland tsunami a "mega-tsunami"? The Greenland tsunami may be considered as mega-tsunami (or impact tsunami) due to its incredible initial wave height of nearly 100 m / + 300 ft. By contrast to ordinary tsunamis, which usually reach an hight of about 30-100 ft., a megatsunami is a tsunami with an initial wave amplitude measured in several tens, hundreds, or possibly thousands of metres. Megatsunamis are caused by giant landslides and other impact events (including meteorite impacts in an ocean), while ordinary tsunamis are usually caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions (which do not normally generate such large waves). Other recent megatsunamis include the wave associated with the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa (volcanic eruption), the 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami (landslide into a bay), and the wave resulting from the Vajont Dam landslide (caused by human activity) (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatsunami).

When comparing this "Greenland Tsunami" with the 1958 "Lituya Bay Mega-tsunami", it seems surprising that the landslide which triggered the Greenland Tsunami was actually even bigger than the landslide which triggered the 1958 Lituya Bay mega-tsunami (45 million m³ which fell about 1 km into the Kangilleq fjord // vs. // 30 million m³ which fell from an elevation of about 900 m into the Lituya Bay). Somehow the Lituya Bay wave ended up being way higher in its max. (+524 m Vs. 100 m). The Greenland Tsunami wave was way faster – it only took 7 minutes to cover the 32 km distance to Nuugaatsiaq (which equals and average speed of about 275 km/h) compared with the speed of the Lituya Bay wave (estimated to only 160-210 hm/h).

Additional information and insights about the causes and the consequences of this Greenland Mega-Tsunami can be found here: www.researchgate.net/publication/321539366_Karrat_… and www.highnorthnews.com/en/major-donation-greenlands… and here nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674nunavut_to_dona…

Another angle of the impact of the Greenland Tsunami wave can be found here: "MEGA-TSUNAMI caused by LANDSLIDE devastates village | Greenland, Nuugaatsiaq":    • MEGA-TSUNAMI caused by LANDSLIDE deva...  

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