Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
In August 2025, a landslide into Alaska's Tracy Arm fjord generated the second-highest tsunami on record — sending water 481 metres up the opposite wall. No ships were nearby... but a cruise ship had visited the fjord just 12 hours before. 🛳️
The underlying driver was climate-related glacier retreat, which is destabilising mountain slopes across arctic regions. As ice disappears, rock becomes unstable, and when it fails near water, the consequences can be catastrophic.
In Tracy Arm fjord the warning signs were present — seismic tremors, rapid glacial calving, heavy rainfall — days before the collapse. The signals existed, but there wasn't a monitoring system in place. ⚠️
💡Not all tsunamis are created equal:
🌊 Most tsunamis are triggered by seismic activity in or near the ocean
🌊 However, the highest tsunami waves on record have been caused by landslides, not earthquakes
🌊 Lakes are vulnerable too — landslide-triggered tsunamis can even occur in enclosed water bodies
🌊The most powerful hazard events don't always produce the biggest disasters. Exposure and vulnerability determine impact.
➡️ preventionweb.net/quick/102114
In August 2025, a landslide into Alaska's Tracy Arm fjord generated the second-highest tsunami on record — sending water 481 metres up the opposite wall. No ships were nearby... but a cruise ship had visited the fjord just 12 hours before. 🛳️
The underlying driver was climate-related glacier retreat, which is destabilising mountain slopes across arctic regions. As ice disappears, rock becomes unstable, and when it fails near water, the consequences can be catastrophic.
In Tracy Arm fjord the warning signs were present — seismic tremors, rapid glacial calving, heavy rainfall — days before the collapse. The signals existed, but there wasn't a monitoring system in place. ⚠️
💡Not all tsunamis are created equal:
🌊 Most tsunamis are triggered by seismic activity in or near the ocean
🌊 However, the highest tsunami waves on record have been caused by landslides, not earthquakes
🌊 Lakes are vulnerable too — landslide-triggered tsunamis can even occur in enclosed water bodies
🌊The most powerful hazard events don't always produce the biggest disasters. Exposure and vulnerability determine impact.
➡️ preventionweb.net/quick/102114
