Trending Now - Satellites Track 650-foot Mega-tsunami's Global Seismic Impact

WHO:

Alice Gabriel, UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Kristian Svennevig, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland

Robert Anthony, U.S. Geological Survey

Thomas Monahan, University of Oxford

Professor Thomas Adcock, University of Oxford

Carl Ebeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Seventy-plus researchers from forty-one institutions

WHAT:

A 650-foot mega-tsunami occurred, sending seismic waves around the world for nine days.

More than 25 million cubic yards of rock and ice broke loose and plunged into Dickson Fjord on September 16, 2023.

The mega-tsunami caused approximately $200,000 in damage to equipment at a research post on Ella Island.

Seismic stations recorded a slow, steady pulse every 92 seconds for nine days.

Computer models estimated the surface water rising between 23 to 30 feet.

WHERE:

Dickson Fjord, eastern Greenland

Ella Island, location of the damaged research post

Areas affected by seismic waves included Alaska and Australia.

WHEN:

The mega-tsunami event occurred on September 16, 2023.

The study was published in the journal Science and Nature Communications.

WHY:

Climate change is contributing to instability in glacier ice, which previously supported the slope that failed.

The landslide was associated with warming air and ocean water.

HOW:

Researchers used field measurements, supercomputers, and computer simulations to analyze the landslide and tsunami.

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, launched in December 2022, was utilized for mapping oceanic processes.

Investigators are reviewing seismic archives for similar slow pulses to uncover past natural disasters.

(UPDATED March 23, 2026 01:33 UTC)

A massive mega-tsunami measuring 650 feet struck Dickson Fjord in eastern Greenland on September 16, 2023, sending seismic waves around the globe for nine days and causing around $200,000 in damage to a research post on Ella Island. The event, which involved over 25 million cubic yards of rock and ice breaking loose, was analyzed by a team of more than seventy researchers from forty-one institutions, including experts from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Oxford. Their findings, published in the journals Science and Nature Communications, highlight the role of climate change in destabilizing glacier ice and contributing to the landslide that triggered this extraordinary tsunami.