Tsunami

Untold tsunamis hit coastal communities before anyone logged them in written records. Paleotsunami researchers are on a quest to uncover these forgotten disasters.

These Tsunami Detectives Search for Ancient Disasters

The gigantic waves have been decimating coastlines since time immemorial. We ignore these prehistoric warnings at our own peril.

A second asteroid may have struck the dinosaurs at the end of Cretaceous period, around 66 million years ago

The Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid May Have Had a Companion

A newly discovered crater suggests a second impact that would have triggered underwater landslides and tsunamis

The MarineLabs sensor buoy that detected the record-breaking wave near Ucluelet, British Columbia.

Record-Breaking Rogue Wave Detected Off Vancouver Island

A 58-foot-tall wall of water was measured by a sensor buoy off the coast

The recent explosion was so powerful that it obliterated parts of the volcanic island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, splitting it in two.

NASA Says Tonga Eruption Was More Powerful Than an Atomic Bomb

The recent blast was the equivalent of 4 to 18 megatons of TNT, according to scientists

The explosion was likely the biggest volcanic eruption recorded anywhere on the planet in more than 30 years.

Why the Eruption in Tonga Was a 'Once-in-a-Millennium' Event for the Volcano

The blast, which sent tsunami waves across the Pacific, left thousands of Tongans without access to water and power

Three giant rocks—Tokia, Rebua, and Kamatoa—sit in the ocean south of Makin Island in the Republic of Kiribati.

How Indigenous Stories Helped Scientists Understand the Origin of Three Huge Boulders

Legends spurred researchers to form a theory about Makin Island's distinctively out-of-place rocks

Researchers with the Kivi Kuaka project are tagging a variety of Pacific birds, hoping they will reveal differences in their capacity to detect and respond to dangerous storms and tsunamis.

Can Birds Tip Us Off to Natural Disasters?

Researchers think birds can hear hurricanes and tsunamis—a sense they’re hoping to tap into to develop a bird-based early warning system

On March 11, 2021, lanterns are released in remembrance of earthquake and tsunami victims in Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture.

Remembering the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Ten Years Later

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake in 2011 remains the largest in Japan's recorded history

Olympus Mons on Mars, the solar system's tallest mountain, as seen from the Viking orbiter

Mars Had Landslide-Powered Tsunamis That Put Earth's Mega-Waves to Shame

A huge mass of material fell down a mountain and into the Red Planet's ancient ocean.

With 650 million cubic yards of dirt and stone, the unstable hillside identified by researchers at Barry Arm would possibly lead to one of the largest tsunamis the area has ever endured.

Potential Landslide Could Trigger Destructive Tsunami in Alaska, Scientists Warn

The natural disaster could strike Prince William Sound at any point within the next 20 years

Untitled image from Restricted Residence

Nearly a Decade After Fukushima, Photos Capture Residents' Bittersweet Return

A new photo series titled “Restricted Residence” features 42 thermal images of locals and their changed landscape

An artist's depiction of an asteroid impacting the Earth.

What Happened the Day a Giant, Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Hit the Earth

Using rock cores from Chicxulub crater, geologists piece together a new timeline of the destruction that followed impact

Furious Winds Lead to ‘Ice Tsunamis’ Along Lake Erie

Walls of ice—some as high as 30 feet—surged over the shoreline, colliding with residential properties

Trending Today

Images Show Landslide Likely Caused Indonesian Tsunami

Radar images appear to show the southwestern flank of the Anak Krakaktau volcano sheared off into the sea

Cool Finds

This Remote Control Vest Trains Rescue Dogs Using Flashlights

By aiming little spots of light, handlers can direct their fearless doggos through disaster areas

The epicenter of last night's earthquake in Alaska

Trending Today

Why Did Alaska's Big Quake Lead to a Tiny Tsunami?

Geophysics, plate tectonics and the vast ocean all determine how severe a tsunami may be

The Aitape skull

New Research

This Ancient Skull May Have Belonged to The World's Oldest Tsunami Victim

A new study says Papua New Guinea's Aitape skull is from someone who died in a massive ocean wave 6,000 years ago

Japanese sea slugs that washed ashore in Oregon in 2015

New Research

The 2011 Tsunami Flushed Hundreds of Japanese Species Across the Ocean

After the Fukushima disaster, a surprising number of coastal creatures survived a multi-year journey by clinging to floating debris

Archaeologists diving off the coast of Nabeul, Tunisia.

Ruins of a Roman City Found Off the Coast of Tunisia

The city destroyed by a 4th-century tsunami is rediscovered

The shipworm, scourge of sailors everywhere, is actually a kind of ghostly saltwater clam.

How a Ship-Sinking Clam Conquered the Ocean

The wood-boring shipworm has bedeviled humans for centuries. What's its secret?

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