December 2, 1952 Tsunami: Barbados

Reference#13840:

On December 2, 1952, Martinique registered small tremors from an epicentre calculated as some 385 km. distant, but the high seas of Barbados occurred thirty hours later.

A study of synoptic weather maps of the NorthSouth Atlantic and Caribbean Sea for the above dates rules out the possibility of the rough seas being attributed to meteorological conditions. If storms of rapid development, perhaps even too rapid to have been recorded on synoptic charts, were the cause, then it is strange that the wild seas were such localized occurrences. A detailed check has shown that on and about the above dates no other West Indian island nor even the neighbouring mainlands recorded unusual seas.

There is no indication of submarine volcanic activity being the cause.

It would appear that it was neither earthquakes, meteorological storms nor submarine volcanoes which were responsible for these peculiarly localized phenomena along the coasts of the islands mentioned. The effect was purely local and a local cause must be sought.

[…] Recognizing such instability, but excluding the above-mentioned possible causes, there seems one explanation available, namely, submarine landslips.

Reference #12345 lists as questionable tsunami with a landslide source. (accessed July 2024)