July 21, 2014 Tsunami: Askja Lake, Iceland
A tsunami caused by a landslide began at Askja Lake, Iceland on July 21, 2014 at 23:24 UTC. The water rose as high as 60 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
The tsunami
- Date
- July 21, 2014, 23:24 UTC
- Source
- Askja Lake, Iceland
- Cause
- Landslide
- Maximum water height
- 60 m (196.9 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- A lake or river, not the ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 65.020° N, 16.700° W
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.
The Askja landslide was released on the evening of 21 July 2014 from the southeast caldera wall. The landslide is one of the largest known rockslides since the settlement of Iceland in the ninth century A.D. It was registered as tremor at IMO seismic stations near Askja and the data show that the event occurred at 23:24 local time. A signal was also detected by an infrasound array in the south of Iceland, at a distance of roughly 210 km. No one was in the area but a group located about 16 km ENE of the site witnessed a large plume of smoke or vapor spreading rapidly and ascending up to the cloud cover.
The landslide traveled close to 2 km along the bottom of the lake and caused a large tsunami that travelled across the lake inundating the shoreline up to an elevation of 60-80 m in places. The tsunami left behind clear evidence of the inundation. Snow patches around the lake were blackened by deposition of sediments and severe erosion was visible at several locations. The morning following the event, seiches on the lake were evident from the sound of pumice rolling against the beach.
(all above from reference #11780)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Askja Lake, Iceland | Iceland | 5 | 60 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey |
More
Every tsunami in 2014The 2000sTsunamis of IcelandThis 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 5743.