Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Forget the gentle rise of storm surges—mega-tsunamis can arrive as a 1,000-foot vertical wall of water, smashing coastlines at jet speed. And unlike quake-born tsunamis, these beasts are born from collapse and chaos.
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A single landslide from La Palma’s Cumbre Vieja volcano could hurl 120 cubic miles of rock into the Atlantic—unleashing a 2,000-foot wave near impact and a 150-foot surge across the East Coast, scientists warn.
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In 1958, Alaska's Lituya Bay saw the tallest wave in recorded history—1,719 feet high. Triggered by a landslide, it stripped mountainsides bare and tossed boats above treetops. That threat isn’t past—it's growing.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Melting glaciers in Alaska are destabilizing mountain slopes. Experts say another mega-tsunami could strike if a chunk of Barry Arm crashes into Harriman Fjord—an event they call “increasingly likely.”
Hawaii once faced a 1,000-foot wave that left sea fossils stranded on mountain peaks. This wasn’t myth—it was the aftermath of a volcanic collapse. With active lava flows today, the risk is far from over.
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A 20-mile chunk of Oʻahu once fell into the Pacific, creating 300-foot waves and rewriting coastlines. That scar, the Nuʻuanu Slide, is visible even today—quietly reminding geologists that it could happen again.
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In 1700, a mega-quake hit the Cascadia Subduction Zone, unleashing a tsunami so fierce it wiped out entire villages and was recorded in Japan. Scientists now put the odds of a repeat at 37% in the next 50 years.
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When Cascadia last shifted, it drowned entire forests. The skeletal remains of sunken trees—ghost forests—still stand as eerie proof of what’s possible when the Earth moves beneath the sea.
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Unlike tsunami waves from far-off earthquakes, mega-tsunamis can arrive in minutes. No sirens. No alerts. Just the roar of earth, rock, and water—reminding us that not all disasters come with warnings.
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