July 30, 2011 Tsunami: Lysefjoren, Western Norway

Name: July 30, 2011 Tsunami: Lysefjoren, Western Norway
Start: 2011-07-30
Location: Lysefjoren, Western Norway

July 30, 2011 · 1.5 m · Probable tsunami

A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Lysefjoren, Western Norway on July 30, 2011 at 05:30 UTC. The water rose as high as 1.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place.

Where the waves reached

The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.

Under 1 m
1 to 3 m
3 to 10 m
10 to 30 m
30 m and more
Height not recorded

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: July 30, 2011, 05:30 UTC
Source: Lysefjoren, Western Norway
Cause: Landslide
Maximum water height: 1.5 m (4.9 ft)
Runups recorded: 1
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Probable tsunami
Source location: 59.050° N, 6.640° E

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Two landslides (rock falls), which caused small tsunami, occurred in Lysefjoren near Lysebotn (Norway) on 30 July and 6 August 2011 (the approximate location is shown on the map; 59.05 N 6.64 E). The first landslide took place at 7:30 a.m. on 30 July 2011. It started from 300 m above sea level and had a width of 50 m. The generated tsunami wave height was estimated by an eye-witness to be 1.5 m

and resulted in damage of two boats in Lysebotn (600-800 m from the rock fall). One lifeboat was thrown up on shore. Other boats had minor damages. From the eye-witness description: "I heard a strange sound. At first, I thought it was a helicopter, but then I realized that the sound came out of the fjord. There rose a cloud of smoke from the sea, and a huge wave came towards the land. There were several boats in the harbor with people in one of them, who were terrified. The sea in the harbor started to bubble and fizz. Then the water receded and later came back with tremendous force." A smaller landslide occurred at the same place at 10:00 a.m. of the same day, but it did not cause any damage. (reference #9501)

Every runup

Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.

Where	Country	Km from source	Water height, m	Inland, m	Measured by	First wave, UTC	Deaths
Lysebotn	Norway	2	1.5		Eyewitness observation of water height

Every tsunami in 2011 The 2000s Tsunamis of Norway This day in weather history Alerts in force

Sources

Tsunami events and runups from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI tsunami event 5435.