A massive November 2020 landslide and glacial lake outburst near Bute Inlet in BC created a seismic signal equivalent to a 4.9 magnitude earthquake! On November 28, 2020, at about 6 a.m., approximately 18.5 million cubic meters of rock dropped from a mountain, slid roughly one kilometer, and impacted the lake at the base of a retreating glacier. The resulting glacial lake outburst created a tsunami 100 meters high and unleashed horrendous devastation for 13 miles downstream in Elliot Creek, forever impacting the landscape there. There is an article about the event in The Tyee, an independent online news magazine in BC. The video below has aerial footage of the aftermath of the event, which wasn’t actually located until later in December because of the remote nature of the site. As always, Dave Petley has a nice discussion of the event on the Landslide Blog. Thanks to the GBA where I first heard of this event.
