On the western side of the Sunnylvsfjorden, about 13 kilometres from Hellesylt, you can see a mountainside with a long scar running through it. This is Åkerneset, and it is one of the most monitored mountains in the world. It is not possible to go there, but you can clearly see it from the boat.
There is a crack in the rock face that is about 700 metres long and up to 30 metres wide. It grows by several centimetres every year. Below the crack sits an unstable rock mass of over 50 million cubic metres. When it eventually falls into the fjord, and geologists say it is a question of when and not if, it will create a tsunami unlike anything seen in Norway in modern times.
In the worst-case scenario, the wave could reach 85 metres high at Hellesylt within five minutes, and hit Geiranger ten minutes later at around 70 metres. The church in Geiranger, built in 1842, happens to mark roughly where the wave crest would reach.
The mountain is monitored around the clock with lasers, GPS sensors, boreholes, radar and webcams. An early warning system should give residents days or even weeks of warning before a final collapse. There are evacuation plans in place, and sirens are tested regularly.
If you hear the sirens and it is not a scheduled test, move to higher ground immediately. Do not go to the waterfront. Follow the evacuation signs. In 1934, a rockslide in nearby Tafjorden created a 64-metre wave that killed 40 people. This threat is very real.
The 2015 Norwegian disaster film Bølgen, The Wave, is based on this exact scenario. If you want to know more, the Norwegian Fjord Centre in Geiranger has an exhibition about the history of rockslides and avalanches in the region.
There is a crack in the rock face that is about 700 metres long and up to 30 metres wide. It grows by several centimetres every year. Below the crack sits an unstable rock mass of over 50 million cubic metres. When it eventually falls into the fjord, and geologists say it is a question of when and not if, it will create a tsunami unlike anything seen in Norway in modern times.
In the worst-case scenario, the wave could reach 85 metres high at Hellesylt within five minutes, and hit Geiranger ten minutes later at around 70 metres. The church in Geiranger, built in 1842, happens to mark roughly where the wave crest would reach.
The mountain is monitored around the clock with lasers, GPS sensors, boreholes, radar and webcams. An early warning system should give residents days or even weeks of warning before a final collapse. There are evacuation plans in place, and sirens are tested regularly.
If you hear the sirens and it is not a scheduled test, move to higher ground immediately. Do not go to the waterfront. Follow the evacuation signs. In 1934, a rockslide in nearby Tafjorden created a 64-metre wave that killed 40 people. This threat is very real.
The 2015 Norwegian disaster film Bølgen, The Wave, is based on this exact scenario. If you want to know more, the Norwegian Fjord Centre in Geiranger has an exhibition about the history of rockslides and avalanches in the region.