Alaska 2025 tsunami was second-highest ever, taller than Empire State Building

Huge 481-metre wave that scoured an Alaskan fjord reached higher than the famed New York skyscraper

Tracy Arm Fjord, in southeastern Alaska ⁠within the Tongass National Forest, presents a majestic vista, with a narrow sea inlet surrounded by towering granite cliffs, waterfalls and glaciers. One morning last year it also was the site of a powerful landslide that triggered a huge localised tsunami.

Researchers have now determined that the tsunami on August 10, 2025, was the second-highest ever recorded, with a wave reaching up to 481 metres (1,578 feet) tall – higher than New York City’s Empire State Building. The tsunami surged through the fjord, violently stripping vegetation ‌from the steep rock walls.

The fiord has been a popular sightseeing destination, but because the tsunami occurred at 5.30am, there were no cruise ships or other boats in the waterway and no one was hurt.

The researchers said the landslide was driven by climate change. The glacier buttressing the mountain had retreated amid warming temperatures, eventually leaving the rock unsupported.

“The fact that the landslide occurred this early in the morning was unbelievably lucky. Next time – and there will be a next time – we may not be so lucky,” said University of Calgary geomorphologist Dan Shugar, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Science.

Such locations have been at the forefront of climate change impacts.