Last year a mega-tsunami raged through the Tracy Arm fjord in the American state of Alaska. According to calculations by researchers, the tidal wave reached a height of no less than 481 meters. Because the tsunami occurred early in the morning, there were no cruise ships in the fjord and there were no casualties.
Source: AD.nl
The gigantic wave was formed in the early morning of August 25, 2025, after a landslide caused a gigantic ‘boulder’ to become loose in the Tracy Arm fjord. The word ‘boulder’ is an understatement: according to researchers, 64 million cubic meters of rock fell into the water at the same time. For comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza has a volume of about 2.58 million cubic meters, which means that about 25 pyramids fell into the water at the same time.
Because Tracy Arm is a narrow fjord, a mega wave was created. At a height of more than 480 meters, trees and rocks that had been displaced by the tsunami were found on the opposite side. According to researchers, the landslide was caused by the retreat of the glaciers in the fjord, which is a result of climate change.
LOOK. The video below shows how the wave was created
Tracy Arm is a popular cruise ship destination. According to the researchers, the time – in the early morning hours – meant that there were no cruise ships in the fjord yet. Bretwood Higman, an Alaskan geologist who saw the damage at Tracy Arm first-hand, says it’s a close call. “We know there were people who were almost in the wrong place,” he told the BBC. “I’m terrified that we won’t be so lucky in the future.”
However, with an estimated height of 481 meters, this mega wave is not the largest tsunami ever. The largest megatsunami also occurred in Alaska in the 1950s, reaching a height of more than 500 meters.