A localized tsunami struck Southeast Alaska's Endicott Arm area on August 10, 2023, with waves reaching 10 to 15 feet and water rising 100 feet on Sawyer Island. Despite no significant earthquakes being reported, researchers attributed the tsunami to a massive landslide with a volume exceeding 3.5 billion cubic feet. Alaska Earthquake Center officials stated this was unprecedented in the last decade. The landslide debris entered the water, creating a seiche within the fjord, marking it as possibly the largest landslide and tsunami event in Alaska since 2015.
This is larger than anything in the past decade in Alaska.
Events like this can be triggered in a number of ways, including seismic activity, ground thawing, or heavy rainfall.
Often, the landslide triggers a seismic reading, and the tsunami follows as rock, soil, and debris rapidly displace water.
All evidence suggests that this set of 10- to 15-foot waves was set in motion by a landslide of several tens of millions of cubic meters of rock striking the water.
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