
Sun Nov 03 06:36:00 UTC 2024: ## Greenland Landslide Triggers Nine-Day Tsunami and Global Tremors
**A massive landslide in Greenland’s Dickson Fjord in September 2023 unleashed a tsunami that reverberated across the globe, causing seismic tremors that lasted for an unprecedented nine days.** This revelation comes from data gathered by the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, offering scientists unique insights into the tsunami’s impact.
The landslide, which sent approximately 25 million cubic meters of rock and ice crashing into the fjord, created a wave that reached a staggering 200 meters high. The fjord’s unique topography, with towering walls and a deep basin, trapped the tsunami’s energy, preventing it from dissipating quickly. This confinement led to a “seiche,” a wave oscillating back and forth for nine days, generating tremors detectable thousands of kilometers away.
SWOT, a collaborative effort between NASA and the French space agency CNES, captured water elevation data in the fjord on September 17, 2023, a day after the landslide. Comparing this data with measurements from August 6, scientists observed water level discrepancies of up to 1.2 meters, highlighting the tsunami’s significant impact.
This remarkable event underscores the power of nature’s forces and the importance of monitoring such occurrences. The data collected by SWOT provides invaluable information for understanding the dynamics of landslides, tsunamis, and their global implications.