In September 2023, earthquake scientists detected some unusual signals on their monitoring stations. These stations are used to detect seismic activity around the world. The sensors showed that large landslides were occurring and it caused a ripple effect around the world. This effect lasted for nine days. The discovery of this event was just recently published in the journal of science.
The event itself occurred in Greenland and was classified as a “USO” or an unidentified seismic object. Eventually, it was traced to Greenland’s remote Dickson Fjord where a landslide displaced a staggering amount of rock and ice. This was enough to fill 10,000 Olympic sized swimming pools, plunging directly into the fjord. The event triggered a 200-meter-high-mega tsunami referred to as a seiche or a wave in the fjord that sloshed back and forth at least 10,000 times over the next nine days.
The recent identification of unstable slopes in Greenland and Alaska raises concerns about potential tsunamis that could impact regions like Washington State. If these slopes were to collapse, they could trigger massive landslides into the ocean, generating tsunamis that might reach distant shores.