Tsunamis in 2011

February 17, 2011 Tsunami: Svalbard, Norway

February 17, 2011 · 0.3 m · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Svalbard, Norway on February 17, 2011. The water rose as high as 0.3 meters.

Where the waves reached

The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.

  • 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
February 17, 2011
Source
Svalbard, Norway
Cause
Landslide
Maximum water height
0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Runups recorded
0
Waters
Ocean
How certain
Definite tsunami
Source location
78.370° N, 16.620° E

The toll

The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

a tsunami wave generated by the displacement of a glacier (Tunabreen) in the Temple Fjord (Spitsbergen) in February 2011. [...] Approximately at 07:40 LT on 17 February, the instruments recorded a tsunami wave. [...] It is worth noting that the event occurred at low tide [...] The vertical displacement of the ice by the leading pulse was approximately 30 cm, the period of the tsunami wave was 90 s and the wave length was 1850 m. (reference #10286)

More

Every tsunami in 2011The 2000sTsunamis of NorwayThis day in weather historyAlerts 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 5856.