From Landslide to Tsunami: Tracy Arm and Alaska’s Growing Landslide Threat

Speakers: Mike West (State Seismologist for Alaska, Director of the Alaska Earthquake Center, and UAF Research Professor at the Geophysical Institute), other speakers TBD

Early on August 10, 2025, a mountainside collapsed in Tracy Arm in Southeast Alaska, generating a tsunami that surged up the opposite side of the fjord to heights higher than the top floor of One World Trade Center. Just 12 hours earlier, cruise ships had departed from the same area. Boats farther down the fjord experienced smaller waves as the tsunami raced through the region at speeds exceeding 100 mph. While dramatic, Tracy Arm is not an isolated event. As glaciers retreat and weather and climate patterns continue to change, coastal landslides are becoming an increasingly important hazard across Alaska. This webinar will explore the Tracy Arm event and place it into the broader context of changing environmental conditions, evolving coastal landslide risks, and what they may mean for Alaska communities and visitors.