Greenland’s Silent Quake: The eastern edge of Greenland is one of the world’s most secluded frontiers — a land of towering cliffs, icy inlets, and near-constant quiet. But in September 2023, that silence was shattered in the most unexpected way. For nine straight days, instruments across the globe detected a mysterious pulse — a rhythmic seismic signal that rose and fell every 92 seconds.
This wasn’t your typical earthquake. Instead of chaotic tremors, the seismic trace appeared as smooth, evenly spaced peaks. The signal persisted for nearly two weeks, rippling through bedrock from Alaska to Australia — a phenomenon no one could explain at first.
What caused it? A breathtaking, catastrophic landslide at Dickson Fjord.
A Mountain Collapses, the Fjord Awakens
On September 16, 2023, a massive chunk of mountain — more than 25 million cubic yards of rock and ice — broke free and plunged into Dickson Fjord, a narrow inlet surrounded by cliffs rising nearly 3,000 feet high. The debris volume was enough to fill 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The violent impact launched a mega-tsunami, towering at an estimated 650 feet. This colossal wave surged down the two-mile-long fjord, slammed into the opposite end, and ricocheted back with ferocious power. An empty research station on nearby Ella Island took a $200,000 hit in damages — despite no one being present.
But the real mystery began after the first wave passed.
Instead of calming, the fjord began sloshing like a giant bathtub, back and forth, in a phenomenon called a seiche. This rhythmic movement displaced vast volumes of water, compressing the fjord floor like a massive piston — sending ripples deep into the Earth’s crust.
The Global Seismic Puzzle
Seismic stations usually record quakes as frantic, jagged scribbles. This time, the traces were remarkably smooth — elegant arcs repeating every minute and a half, and staying consistent for days.
“This kind of signal was unheard of from a seiche,” said Alice Gabriel from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “It took weeks of collaboration, modeling, and data analysis to even begin understanding what we were looking at.”
Two separate research teams ran simulations of the fjord’s unique geometry and the avalanche’s trajectory. One group estimated water surges of 8.5 feet, while another suggested as much as 30 feet. Despite the difference in magnitude, both agreed on the culprit: the landslide-triggered tsunami.
A Global Effort to Solve a Remote Mystery
Over 70 scientists from 41 institutions joined the investigation. Their findings transformed what began as a baffling blip on seismic charts into one of the most extraordinary geophysical stories in recent history.
Field teams visited the site, measuring gouges on cliff faces and studying rock displacement. Supercomputers recreated the landslide and resulting water movement in 3D, providing unprecedented insight into how such an event can stir the entire planet.
“This was one of the most exciting and puzzling problems I’ve worked on,” said Robert Anthony of the U.S. Geological Survey. “We truly needed global teamwork and cross-disciplinary science to understand it.”
The Climate Connection
The Dickson Fjord collapse was not random. Scientists point to climate change as a silent trigger. Warming air and ocean temperatures are steadily melting the glaciers that once held these massive cliffs in place. As natural supports weaken, slopes become unstable — raising the risk of future collapses.
“This is nature’s alarm bell,” said Gabriel. “Climate change is rewriting the rules. We need to be ready for more of these ‘unusual’ events in places that once seemed stable.”
A similar event in 2017 at Karrat Fjord killed four people and destroyed several homes. While no lives were lost in this recent collapse, it highlights growing dangers, especially as Arctic tourism increases.
New Eyes on the Arctic
Modern satellites played a critical role in uncovering the full scale of the Dickson Fjord disaster. The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission, launched in December 2022, provided high-resolution imagery of sea surface movements. Unlike earlier radar systems, SWOT maps a 30-mile-wide swath of Earth’s surface in fine detail — enough to capture the fjord’s oscillations in real time.
“This is a revolution in Earth observation,” said Thomas Monahan of the University of Oxford. “Instruments like SWOT are now essential for monitoring remote, fast-changing environments like the Arctic.”
What We’ve Learned — And What Comes Next
Scientists are now digging into seismic archives, searching for other unexplained signals that might have gone unnoticed. Each discovery helps refine models predicting how water, rock, and ice interact during landslides.
The ultimate goal? Early warning systems that could provide minutes of lead time before a wave hits — potentially saving lives and protecting critical infrastructure.
“This event proves that even the quietest parts of our planet can send shockwaves across the globe,” said Carl Ebeling of Scripps. “We just have to learn how to listen.”
Nature’s Slow Pulse
In a world often focused on dramatic, headline-grabbing disasters, the slow heartbeat of Greenland’s fjord reminds us that Earth’s most powerful events aren’t always loud — but they can still echo across the globe.
As our planet warms and ice recedes, events like this could become more common. Fortunately, with advanced satellite tech and international cooperation, science is finally catching up.
The findings from Dickson Fjord have now been published in the journals Science and Nature Communications, marking a groundbreaking step in understanding Earth’s hidden rhythms.
