At the end of December 2004, one of the strongest earthquakes in the last half century occurred near the island of Sumatra, located in the Indian Ocean. Its consequences turned out to be catastrophic: due to the displacement of the lithospheric plates, a huge fault was formed, and a large amount of water rose from the ocean floor, which, at a speed reaching one kilometer per hour, began to move rapidly throughout the Indian Ocean.

As a result, thirteen countries were affected, about a million people were left without a “roof over their heads”, and more than two hundred thousand died or went missing. This disaster turned out to be the worst in the history of mankind.

Tsunamis are long and high waves that appear as a result of a sharp displacement of the lithospheric plates of the ocean floor during underwater or coastal earthquakes (the length of the shaft is from 150 to 300 km). Unlike ordinary waves, which appear as a result of a strong wind (for example, a storm) affecting the water surface, a tsunami wave affects water from the bottom to the surface of the ocean, which is why even low-lying water can often lead to disasters.

Interestingly, these waves are not dangerous for ships in the ocean at this time: most of the agitated water is in its bowels, the depth of which is several kilometers - and therefore the height of the waves above the water surface is from 0.1 to 5 meters. Approaching the coast, the back of the wave catches up with the front, which at this time slows down slightly, grows to a height of 10 to 50 meters (the deeper the ocean, the larger the shaft) and a crest appears on it.

It should be taken into account that the impending shaft develops the highest speed in the Pacific Ocean (it ranges from 650 to 800 km/h). As for the average speed of most waves, it ranges from 400 to 500 km / h, but cases have been recorded when they accelerated to a speed of a thousand kilometers (the speed usually increases after the wave passes over a deep trench).

Before crashing on the coast, the water suddenly and quickly moves away from the coastline, exposing the bottom (the further it retreated, the higher the wave will be). If people do not know about the approaching elements, instead of moving as far as possible from the coast, on the contrary, they run to collect shells or pick up fish that did not have time to go to sea. And just a few minutes later, a wave that arrived here at great speed does not leave them the slightest chance of salvation.

It must be borne in mind that if a wave rolls on the coast from the opposite side of the ocean, then the water does not always recede.

Ultimately, a huge mass of water floods the entire coastal line and goes inland to a distance of 2 to 4 km, destroying buildings, roads, piers and leading to the death of people and animals. In front of the shaft, clearing the way for water, there is always an air shock wave, which literally blows up buildings and structures that are in its path.

It is interesting that this deadly natural phenomenon consists of several waves, and the first wave is far from the largest: it only wets the coast, reducing the resistance for the waves following it, which often do not come immediately, and at intervals of two to three hours. The fatal mistake of people is their return to the shore after the departure of the first attack of the elements.

Reasons for education

One of the main reasons for the displacement of lithospheric plates (in 85% of cases) are underwater earthquakes, during which one part of the bottom rises and the other falls. As a result, the ocean surface begins to oscillate vertically, trying to return to the initial level, forming waves. It is worth noting that underwater earthquakes do not always lead to the formation of a tsunami: only those where the source is located at a small distance from the ocean floor, and the shaking was at least seven points.

The reasons for the formation of a tsunami are quite different. The main ones include underwater landslides, which, depending on the steepness of the continental slope, are able to overcome huge distances - from 4 to 11 km strictly vertically (depending on the depth of the ocean or gorge) and up to 2.5 km - if the surface is slightly inclined.

Large waves can cause huge objects that have fallen into the water - rocks or blocks of ice. Thus, the largest tsunami in the world, whose height exceeded five hundred meters, was recorded in Alaska, in the state of Lituya, when, as a result of a strong earthquake, a landslide descended from the mountains - and 30 million cubic meters of stones and ice fell into the bay.

Volcanic eruptions (about 5%) can also be attributed to the main causes of tsunamis. During strong volcanic explosions, waves are formed, and water instantly fills the vacant space inside the volcano, as a result of which a huge shaft is formed and begins its journey.

For example, during the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa at the end of the XIX century. "killer wave" destroyed about 5 thousand ships and caused the death of 36 thousand people.

In addition to the above, experts identify two more possible causes of a tsunami. First of all, it is a human activity. So, for example, in the middle of the last century, Americans made an underwater atomic explosion at a depth of sixty meters, causing a wave about 29 meters high, however, it did not last long and fell, breaking 300 meters as much as possible.

Another reason for the formation of a tsunami is the fall into the ocean of meteorites with a diameter of more than 1 km (the impact of which is strong enough to cause a natural disaster). According to one version of scientists, several thousand years ago, it was meteorites that caused the strongest waves that caused the largest climatic disasters in the history of our planet.

Classification

When classifying tsunamis, scientists take into account a sufficient number of factors of their occurrence, including meteorological disasters, explosions, and even ebb and flow, while the list includes low wave surges about 10 cm high.
Shaft strength

The strength of the shaft is measured, taking into account its maximum height, as well as how catastrophic the consequences it caused, and, according to the international IIDA scale, 15 categories are distinguished, from -5 to +10 (the more victims, the higher the category).

By intensity

According to the intensity of the “killer wave”, they are divided into six points, which make it possible to characterize the consequences of the elements:

1. Waves with a category of one point are so small that they are recorded only by instruments (most do not even know about their presence).
2. Double-point waves are capable of slightly flooding the coast, therefore only specialists can distinguish them from fluctuations of ordinary waves.
3. The waves, which are classified as three-point, are strong enough to throw small boats onto the coast.
4. Four-point waves can not only wash large sea vessels ashore, but also throw them ashore.
5. Five-point waves are already acquiring the scale of a catastrophe. They are able to destroy low buildings, wooden buildings, and lead to human casualties.
6. As for the six-point waves, the waves that have washed over the coast completely devastate it along with the adjacent lands.

By the number of victims

According to the number of deaths, five groups of this dangerous phenomenon are distinguished. The first includes situations where deaths were not recorded. To the second - waves that resulted in the death of up to fifty people. Shafts belonging to the third category cause the death of fifty to one hundred people. The fourth category includes "killer waves" that killed from a hundred to a thousand people.

The consequences of a tsunami belonging to the fifth category are catastrophic, since they entail the death of more than a thousand people. Typically, such disasters are characteristic of the deepest ocean in the world, the Pacific, but often occur in other parts of the planet. This applies to the disasters of 2004 near Indonesia and 2011 in Japan (25,000 deaths). “Killer waves” were also recorded in history in Europe, for example, in the middle of the 18th century, a thirty-meter shaft collapsed on the coast of Portugal (during this disaster, from 30 to 60 thousand people died).

Economic damage

As for the economic damage, it is measured in US dollars and calculated taking into account the costs that must be allocated for the restoration of the destroyed infrastructure (lost property and destroyed houses are not taken into account, because they are related to the country's social expenditures).

According to the size of losses, economists distinguish five groups. The first category includes waves that did not cause much harm, the second - with losses up to $ 1 million, the third - up to $ 5 million, the fourth - up to $ 25 million.

The damage from the waves, related to the fifth group, exceeds 25 million. For example, the losses from two major natural disasters in 2004 near Indonesia and in 2011 in Japan amounted to about $250 billion. The environmental factor should also be taken into account, since the waves that caused the death of 25 thousand people damaged a nuclear power plant in Japan, causing an accident.

Natural disaster identification systems

Unfortunately, "killer waves" often appear so unexpectedly and move at such a high speed that it is extremely difficult to determine their appearance, and therefore seismologists often fail to cope with the task assigned to them.

Basically, disaster warning systems are built on the processing of seismic data: if there is a suspicion that an earthquake will have a magnitude of more than seven points, and its source will be on the ocean (sea) floor, then all countries that are at risk receive warnings of the approach of huge waves.

Unfortunately, the disaster of 2004 happened because almost all the neighboring countries did not have an identification system. Despite the fact that about seven hours passed between the earthquake and the surge, the population was not warned about the approaching disaster.

To determine the presence of dangerous waves in the open ocean, scientists use special hydrostatic pressure sensors that transmit data to the satellite, which allows you to fairly accurately determine the time of their arrival at a particular point.

How to survive during the elements

If it so happens that you find yourself in an area where there is a high probability of deadly waves, you should definitely not forget to follow the forecasts of seismologists and remember all the warning signals of an approaching disaster. It is also necessary to know the boundaries of the most dangerous zones and the shortest roads by which you can leave the dangerous territory.

If you hear a signal warning of approaching water, you should immediately leave the danger area. Experts will not be able to say exactly how much time there is for evacuation: maybe a couple of minutes or several hours. If you do not have time to leave the area and live in a multi-storey building, then you need to go up to the top floors, closing all windows and doors.

But if you are in a one- or two-story house, you must immediately leave it and run to a tall building or climb any hill (in extreme cases, you can climb a tree and cling to it tightly). If it so happened that you did not have time to leave a dangerous place and ended up in the water, you need to try to free yourself from shoes and wet clothes and try to cling to floating objects.

When the first wave subsides, it is necessary to leave the dangerous area, since the next one will most likely come after it. You can return only when there are no waves for about three to four hours. Once at home, check walls and ceilings for cracks, gas leaks, and electrical conditions.

When I read about the height of the wave caused by the tsunami in 1958, I could not believe my eyes. Checked once, then twice. Everywhere is the same. No, probably, after all, they made a mistake with a comma, and everyone copies from each other. Maybe in units of measurement?
Well, how else, what do you think, maybe a wave from a tsunami 524 meters high? HALF A KILOMETER!
Now we find out what really happened there ...

Here is what an eyewitness writes:

“After the first push, I fell off the bed and looked towards the beginning of the bay, where the noise was coming from. The mountains trembled terribly, stones and avalanches rushed down. And the glacier in the north was especially striking, it is called the Lituya glacier. Usually, it is not visible from where I was at anchor. People shake their heads when I tell them that I saw him that night. I can't help it if they don't believe me. I know that the glacier is not visible from where I anchored in Anchorage Bay, but I also know that I saw it that night. The glacier rose into the air and moved forward, so that it became visible. He must have climbed several hundred feet. I'm not saying that he just hung in the air. But he was shaking and jumping around like crazy. Large pieces of ice fell from its surface into the water. The glacier was six miles from me, and I saw large pieces that fell off it like a huge dump truck. This went on for some time - it's hard to say how long - and then suddenly the glacier disappeared from view and a large wall of water rose above this place. The wave went in our direction, after which I was too busy to say what else was going on there.

On July 9, 1958, an unusually severe disaster occurred in Lituya Bay in southeast Alaska. In this bay, protruding into the land for more than 11 km, geologist D. Miller discovered a difference in the age of trees on the slope of the hills surrounding the bay. From annual tree rings, he calculated that over the past 100 years, waves with a maximum height of several hundred meters have arisen at least four times in the bay. Miller's conclusions were treated with great distrust. And so, on July 9, 1958, a strong earthquake occurred on the Fairweather fault to the north of the bay, which caused the destruction of buildings, the collapse of the coast, and the formation of numerous cracks. And a huge landslide on the mountainside above the bay caused a wave of record height (524 m), which swept at a speed of 160 km/h through a narrow, fjord-like bay.

Lituya is a fjord located on the Fairweather Fault in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Alaska. It is a T-shaped bay 14 kilometers long and up to three kilometers wide. The maximum depth is 220 m. The narrow entrance to the bay has a depth of only 10 m. Two glaciers descend into Lituya Bay, each of which is about 19 km long and up to 1.6 km wide. Over the century preceding the described events, waves over 50 meters high have already been observed in Lituye several times: in 1854, 1899 and 1936.

The 1958 earthquake caused a subaerial rockfall at the mouth of the Gilbert Glacier in Lituya Bay. As a result of this landslide, more than 30 million cubic meters of rock collapsed into the bay and led to the formation of a megatsunami. From this disaster, 5 people died: three on Hantaak Island and two more were washed away by a wave in the bay. In Yakutat, the only permanent settlement near the epicenter, infrastructure facilities were damaged: bridges, docks and oil pipelines.

After the earthquake, research was carried out on a subglacial lake located to the northwest of the bend of the Lituya glacier at the very beginning of the bay. It turned out that the lake dropped by 30 meters. This fact served as the basis for another hypothesis of the formation of a giant wave with a height of more than 500 meters. Probably, during the glacier retreat, a large volume of water entered the bay through an ice tunnel under the glacier. However, the runoff of water from the lake could not be the main cause of the megatsunami.

A huge mass of ice, stones and earth (about 300 million cubic meters in volume) rushed down from the glacier, exposing the mountain slopes. The earthquake destroyed numerous buildings, cracks formed in the ground, and the coast slipped. The moving mass collapsed on the northern part of the bay, filled it up, and then crawled onto the opposite slope of the mountain, tearing off the forest cover from it to a height of more than three hundred meters. The landslide generated a giant wave that literally carried the Lituya Bay towards the ocean. The wave was so great that it swept over the entire shallow at the mouth of the bay.

The eyewitnesses of the disaster were people on board the ships that anchored in the bay. From a terrible push, they were all thrown out of their beds. Jumping to their feet, they could not believe their eyes: the sea was heaving. “Giant landslides, raising clouds of dust and snow in their path, began to run along the slopes of the mountains. Soon their attention was attracted by an absolutely fantastic sight: the mass of ice of the Lituya glacier, located far to the north and usually hidden from view by a peak that rises at the entrance to the bay, seemed to rise above the mountains and then majestically collapsed into the waters of the inner bay. It all felt like some kind of nightmare. Before the eyes of the shocked people, a huge wave rose up, which swallowed the foot of the northern mountain. After that, she swept across the bay, ripping off trees from the slopes of the mountains; having fallen like a water mountain on the island of Cenotaphia ... rolled over the highest point of the island, which towered 50 m above sea level. All this mass suddenly plunged into the waters of a narrow bay, causing a huge wave, the height of which, obviously, reached 17-35 m. Its energy was so great that the wave rushed furiously across the bay, overflowing the slopes of the mountains. In the inner basin, the impacts of the wave on the shore were probably very strong. The slopes of the northern mountains, facing the bay, were bare: where a dense forest used to grow, there were now bare rocks; such a picture was observed at an altitude of up to 600 meters.

One longboat was raised high, easily carried across the shallows and thrown into the ocean. At that moment, when the longboat was moving across the shallows, the fishermen on it saw standing trees under them. The wave literally threw people across the island into the open sea. During a nightmarish ride on a giant wave, the boat pounded against trees and debris. The longboat sank, but the fishermen miraculously survived and were rescued two hours later. Of the other two launches, one safely withstood the wave, but the other sank, and the people on it went missing.

Miller found that the trees growing on the upper edge of the exposed area, just below 600 m above the bay, were bent and broken, their fallen trunks pointing towards the top of the mountain, but the roots were not uprooted from the soil. Something pushed those trees up. The tremendous force that did this could not have been anything other than the riding of a gigantic wave that swept over the mountain on that July evening in 1958.

Mr. Howard J. Ulrich, on his yacht called the Edri, entered the waters of Lituya Bay at about eight in the evening and anchored in a depth of nine meters in a small bay on the south coast. Howard says that suddenly the yacht began to sway violently. He ran out onto the deck and saw how in the northeastern part of the bay the rocks began to move due to the earthquake and a huge block of rock began to fall into the water. Approximately two and a half minutes after the earthquake, he heard a deafening sound from the destruction of the rock.

“We definitely saw that the wave went from the direction of Gilbert's Bay, just before the earthquake ended. But at first it was not a wave. At first it was more like an explosion, as if the glacier was breaking apart. The wave grew from the surface of the water, at first it was almost invisible, who would have thought that then the water would rise to a height of half a kilometer.

Ulrich said that he observed the whole process of the development of the wave, which reached their yacht in a very short time - something like two and a half or three minutes since it was first seen. “Since we did not want to lose the anchor, we completely etched the anchor chain (about 72 meters) and started the engine. Halfway between the northeastern edge of Lituya Bay and Cenotaf Island, a thirty-meter-high wall of water could be seen that stretched from one shore to the other. When the wave approached the northern part of the island, it split into two parts, but, having passed the southern part of the island, the wave became one again. It was smooth, only there was a small scallop on top. When this water mountain approached our yacht, its front was quite steep and its height was from 15 to 20 meters. Before the wave came to the place where our yacht was, we did not feel any lowering of the water or other changes, except for a slight vibration that was transmitted through the water from the tectonic processes that began to act during the earthquake. As soon as the wave approached us and began to lift our yacht, the anchor chain crackled violently. The yacht was carried towards the south coast and then, on the return course of the wave, towards the center of the bay. The top of the wave was not very wide, from 7 to 15 meters, and the back front was less steep than the front.

As the giant wave swept past us, the surface of the water returned to its normal level, but we could observe a lot of turbulent eddies around the yacht, as well as chaotic waves of six meters in height, which moved from one side of the bay to the other. These waves did not form any noticeable movement of water from the mouth of the bay to its northeastern part and back.

After 25-30 minutes the surface of the bay calmed down. Near the banks one could see many logs, branches and uprooted trees. All this rubbish slowly drifted towards the center of the Lituya Bay and towards its mouth. In fact, during the entire incident, Ulrich did not lose control of the yacht. When the Edri approached the mouth of the bay at 11 pm, a normal current could be observed there, which is usually caused by the daily low tide of ocean water.

Other eyewitnesses to the disaster, the Swanson couple on a yacht called the Badger, entered Lituya Bay around nine in the evening. First, their ship approached the island of Cenotaf, and then returned to Anchorage Bay on the northern shore of the bay, not far from its mouth (see map). The Swensons anchored at a depth of about seven meters and went to sleep. William Swanson's sleep was interrupted due to the strong vibration of the yacht's hull. He ran to the control room and began to time what was happening. A little over a minute from when William first felt the vibration, and probably just before the end of the quake, he looked towards the northeast part of the bay, which was visible against the backdrop of the island of Cenotaf. The traveler saw something that he first took for the Lituya glacier, which rose into the air and began to move towards the observer. “It seemed that this mass was solid, but it jumped and swayed. In front of this block, large pieces of ice constantly fell into the water. After a short time, “the glacier disappeared from sight, and instead a large wave appeared in that place and went in the direction of the La Gaussy spit, just where our yacht was anchored.” In addition, Swenson drew attention to the fact that the wave flooded the coast at a very noticeable height.

When the wave passed the island of Cenotaf, its height was about 15 meters in the center of the bay and gradually decreased near the coast. She passed the island about two and a half minutes after she could first be seen, and reached the Badger yacht after another eleven and a half minutes (approximately). Before the wave arrived, William, like Howard Ulrich, did not notice any lowering of the water level or any turbulent phenomena.

The Badger, which was still at anchor, was lifted by a wave and carried towards the La Gaussy spit. At the same time, the stern of the yacht was below the crest of the wave, so that the position of the vessel resembled a surfboard. Svenson looked at that moment at the place where the trees growing on the La Gaussy spit should have been visible. At that moment they were hidden by water. William noted that above the tops of the trees there was a layer of water equal to about twice the length of his yacht, about 25 meters. Having passed the La Gaussy spit, the wave very quickly began to decline.

In the place where Swenson's yacht stood, the water level began to drop, and the ship hit the bottom of the bay, remaining afloat close to the shore. 3-4 minutes after the impact, Swenson saw that the water continued to flow over the La Gaussi spit, carrying logs and other debris of forest vegetation. He wasn't sure it wasn't a second wave that could have carried the yacht across the spit into the Gulf of Alaska. So the Swensons left their yacht, moving onto a small boat, from which they were picked up by a fishing boat a couple of hours later.

There was also a third vessel in Lituya Bay at the time of the incident. It was anchored at the entrance to the bay and was sunk by a huge wave. None of the people on board survived, and two are believed to have died.

What happened on July 9, 1958? That evening, a huge rock fell into the water from a steep cliff overlooking the northeastern shore of Gilbert's Bay. The collapse area is marked in red on the map. The blow of an incredible mass of stones from a very high altitude caused an unprecedented tsunami, which wiped out all living things from the face of the earth that was along the coast of the Lituya Bay up to the La Gaussi spit. After the wave passed along both sides of the bay, not only vegetation, but even soil was left; there was bare rock on the surface of the shore. The area of ​​damage is shown on the map in yellow.

The numbers along the coast of the bay indicate the height above sea level of the edge of the damaged land area and approximately correspond to the height of the wave that passed here.

Giant waves are called "tsunamis". They are of enormous height and width, arising in the ocean under the influence of water (most often due to earthquakes). The word itself comes from the Japanese language, where it consists of two hieroglyphs - “wave” and “bay”. It was Japan and other countries with access to the Pacific Ocean that became victims of killer waves. In the Pacific region, a wave in the world was witnessed, which hit the coast of American Alaska.

Top 1. Tsunami in Lituya Bay, 1958

Lituya Bay is located in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Alaska. The bay is separated from the outlet to the ocean by a strait about 500 meters wide. Lituya Bay is about 11 kilometers long and about 3 kilometers wide. Cenotaph Island is located in the center of the bay.

The catastrophe was provoked by the earthquake that took place on July 9, 1958. It caused a rockfall on the Gilbert Glacier northeast of the bay. About 30 million cubic meters of rock and ice fell into the eastern part of the bay from a height of about 900 meters. The tsunami caused by the rockfall hit both sides of the bay and Cenotaph Island. The La Gaussy spit, located near the epicenter of the wave, was washed away almost completely. The wave height was 524 meters. The tsunami uprooted most of the trees in the passage area.

Five people became victims of a huge wave. Two of them were caught by the tsunami on a fishing boat. The people who went out into the bay on that fateful day on two more ships miraculously survived and were picked up by rescuers.

Top 2. Indian Ocean, 2004

The 2004 tsunami went down in history as the deadliest - more than 230 thousand people became victims of the wrath of nature. The beginning of a giant wave was laid by an underwater earthquake with a magnitude of 9 points. The tsunami waves that hit the land reached a height of thirty meters.

Radar satellites recorded an underwater tsunami, whose height after the earthquake was about 60 centimeters. Unfortunately, these observations could not help prevent a catastrophe, because it took several hours to process the data.

Sea waves reached the coast of different countries at different times. The first blow immediately after the earthquake hit the north of the island of Sumatra. The tsunami reached Sri Lanka and India only an hour and a half later. Two hours later, the waves hit the shores of Thailand.

Tsunami waves led to human casualties in the countries of East Africa: Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania. Sixteen hours later, the waves reached the town of Struisbaa on the coast of South Africa. A little later, tidal waves up to a meter high were recorded in the area of ​​the Japanese scientific station in Antarctica.

Part of the tsunami energy escaped into the Pacific Ocean, where tidal waves were recorded on the coast of Canada, British Columbia, and Mexico. In some places, their height reached 2.5 meters, which exceeded the waves recorded off the coast of some countries located closer to the epicenter.

The most affected by the tsunami were:

• Indonesia. Three waves hit the northern part of the island of Sumatra less than half an hour after the earthquake. According to survivors, the waves were taller than houses.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India), where more than 4 thousand people died.
• Sri Lanka. The waves reached a height of 12 meters. The passenger train "Queen of the Sea Coast" became a victim of the tsunami. His death was the largest railway accident in recent history and claimed more than 1,700 lives.
• Thailand. Waves second only to those that hit Sumatra destroyed the southwestern coast of the country. There were many tourists from other countries at the scene of the tragedy. More than 3,000 people died and 5,000 more went missing.

Top 3. Japan, 2011

In March 2011, an underwater earthquake hit the ocean east of Honshu. It provoked a tsunami wave that devastated the coast of Honshu and other islands of the archipelago. The waves reached the opposite shore of the Pacific Ocean. In the coastal regions of South American countries, an evacuation was announced, but the waves did not pose a big threat.

The waves reached the islands of the Kuril chain. Several thousand Russian citizens were evacuated from the coastal areas of the islands by the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Waves up to three meters high were recorded near the village of Malokurilskoe.

The first tsunami waves hit the Japanese archipelago within half an hour after completion. The highest height was witnessed near the city of Miyako (northern Honshu) - 40 meters. The coast received the heaviest blows within an hour after the earthquake.

The tsunami caused damage to three Japanese prefectures in Honshu. Also, the cataclysm provoked an accident at a nuclear power plant. The city of Rikuzentakata was actually washed into the ocean - almost all the buildings went under water. The tragedy of 2011 claimed the lives of more than 15 thousand inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago.

Probably, the sparseness of the state of Alaska was the reason why the largest wave in the world did not lead to massive loss of life. Today, the earthquake and tsunami monitoring system has been improved, which makes it possible to reduce the number of victims during disasters. But coastal residents are still at risk due to the unpredictable behavior of the ocean.

Ocean, sand, beach, cocktail, sun lounger and waves 30 meters high. Yes, it's all in one place, but, fortunately, at different times. How can this be? We leave for the town of Nazare on the west coast of Portugal. It is here, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, that you can see both a relaxed beach holiday and the biggest waves in the world.

This landmark of Portugal is located between the capital of Lisbon and the city of Porto.

In summer, the small resort town of Nazare, with a population of about 15,000, is a classic tourist attraction in the country. Its long sandy beaches are occupied by tourists from all over the world. They bask in the gentle sun, bathe in the Atlantic Ocean. All in all, a relaxing holiday.

In winter, everything changes dramatically. Beach tourists are replaced by extreme people and lovers of unusual natural phenomena. During this period, you can observe the formation of giant waves that crash on the coast almost at arm's length. This phenomenon, incredible in its power and amazing in its beauty, attracts both travelers and the most desperate surfers.

Who produces the biggest waves on the planet

Once again, we recall that almost everything amazing, beautiful, sometimes frightening, but bewitching on our planet is produced by nature. In this case, the atypical topography of the ocean floor near the city of Nazare, in particular the underwater North Nazare Canyon, became the creator of giant waves. This depression in the bottom surface reaches almost to the very shore, forming a kind of springboard for ocean waves.

It should be noted that Nazare Canyon is recognized as the deepest in Europe and one of the deepest in the world. It is located not parallel to the coast, but perpendicular. Its length is 227 km, and the depth reaches 5 kilometers (this is almost half the depth of the Mariana Trench). As you approach the coast, the depth decreases sharply, creating a barrier to the path of the wave and multiplying its height. There are conditions under which colossal masses of water must jump over this obstacle. Do not forget, all this happens in close proximity to tourists.

In the pictures below you can see the geological reasons for the appearance of huge waves.

A typical scheme for the formation of a giant wave

But that's not all. The bottom topography alone is not enough to get the highest waves. This requires a combination of many factors.

Hell of a cocktail to get the biggest waves

The presence of the canyon creates special conditions for the creation of large waves. It splits the wave into two parts. One part increases its speed when passing through the canyon, and the second part reunites with the first part at the exit of the canyon into one big wave.

The opposite ocean current coming from the beach can add a few more meters.

For the birth of a giant wave, the wave period is important, which should be about 14 seconds. The wind, oddly enough, should be weak. The direction of the wave is very important, ideally it should come from the west or northwest. As a plus to these factors, storms are added in the northern part of the Atlantic, occurring during the autumn - winter. The combination of these factors can increase several times the usual ocean wave.

How often do big waves appear

Looking at the photos on the Internet, as well as on our website, you might think that giant waves in Nazar are formed almost every minute. But it's not. A little higher, you learned how many phenomena are required to come together to get a huge wave. It doesn't happen that often.

The Big Waves season in Nazaré falls between October and February. During these months, there are usually 1 to 6 giant waves and tens and hundreds of much smaller waves. If you want to see a truly huge wave, then plan to spend at least 2 weeks here, or follow the forecasts on surfer sites. For a large wave, the forecast should indicate a wave size of more than 3 meters, a wave period of more than 13 seconds, and a slight northerly wind.

If you are already there, then check the state of the sea in real time through the online forecast and webcams. But, even if all forecasts point to ideal conditions for the occurrence of large waves, then everything can change in just an hour and ruin a day with a favorable forecast.

But in Peru you can see the longest sea waves in the world. They are much safer than the waves in Nazar, and you can ride them for up to several minutes in a row, passing more than one hundred meters on the crest of one wave.

The story of conquering the giant waves of Nazaré

There are people in the world who "don't feed honey", just let them conquer the biggest waves. They are usually called surfers. They, probably, with the advent of boards, began to collect the best places for their hobby around the planet. They did not bypass the waves near the city of Nazare. For the first time, surfers were noticed here back in the 60s of the last century. Since then they have been frequent guests here. But there is no data on the conquest of huge waves. It was only in November 2011 that the world learned about the taking of the biggest wave. Then Gareth McNamara, a surfer from the Hawaiian Islands, conquered a wave 24 meters high. The brave comrade did not calm down and in January 2013 he broke his own record by taking a 30-meter wave.

Gareth was the first to describe the sensations of such adventures. This proved to be incredibly difficult due to the unpredictability of wave behavior.

In this event, McNamara involved three assistants and one wife (his own). At the moment of wave formation, the first assistant on the jet ski tries to drag the surfer as high as possible on the crest, and keeps close to him for safety net. Look at the photo of these waves, and you will understand that it is unrealistic to swim to them on your own.

A little further away, the second assistant runs and insures both. The third one watches over all the others. And from the shore, a gray-haired wife watches everything and gives instructions to her husband on how best to catch the wave.

The first time everything went well and no help was needed, but the second time he proved the effectiveness of triple insurance. Then the first assistant was washed away by a wave from the jet ski, and the second assistant pulled out the surfer, and the third one pulled out the first one.

The danger of such adventures is extremely high, so surfers try not to climb waves 30 meters high without much need. They only do it for the records.

In October 2013, Brazilian surfer Carlos Berl rode a wave that turned out to be even bigger. But there is no absolutely accurate data on the height of subdued waves, since it is rather problematic to make measurements.

Annual meeting of surfers in Nazar

Despite the danger of such big waves, since 2016 Nazare has hosted a meeting or competition of surfers Nazare Challenge - WSL Big Wave Tour under the control of the World Surf League. This competition brings together the best surfers from all over the world and lasts only one day. In addition, it does not have a fixed date. It all depends on the forecasts of the state of the sea. The period of holding or better to say waiting is from October 15 to February 28. The day of the competition is approved 3 days before its holding. This is the best that can be achieved with modern sea and wind forecasting technology.

For surfers, this is a milestone event. Here is how one of the participants describes it -
"What followed after the starting signal was a dizzying, wild and unprecedented display of courage, stupidity and skill"

Where is the best place to watch the biggest waves

The best way to watch a giant wave is to stand on its crest on a surfboard. Any surfer will say that. Well, for ordinary tourists it is best to do this from Cape Nazare, on which the lighthouse is located. Since the place is very interesting, you are unlikely to get lost. Fort San Miguel Arcanjo is also located here. You can also go down to the sand on the beach via a dirt road, but be very careful. In the Big Wave season it is very dangerous.

Now, in addition to big waves, the attraction of Nazare are surfers who “ride” them. This, incidentally, gives a good idea of ​​the size of the waves. When you see a little man running away from a multi-ton huge wave, you can imagine how great and powerful not only the Russian language is, but also the Atlantic Ocean.

1. As a rule, many famous surf spots have a bottom topography similar to that near Nazare, but on a smaller scale. The most famous are Teahupoo in Tahiti, Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii and Maverick's Beach off the coast of California.
2. Local fishermen have long been afraid of this place. There have been several shipwrecks here. At the bottom of the canyon is a sunken German submarine from World War II.

In December 2004, a photo of the biggest wave in the world spread around all the publications of the world. On December 26, an earthquake occurred in Asia, which resulted in a tsunami wave that killed more than 235,000 people.

The media published photos of the destruction, assuring readers and viewers that there has never been a big wave in the world. But the journalists were cunning... Indeed, in terms of its destructive power, the tsunami of 2004 is one of the deadliest. But the magnitude (height) of this wave is quite modest: it did not much exceed 15 meters. History knows higher waves, about which one can say: “Yes, this is the biggest wave in the world!”

Waves-record holders

Where are the biggest waves

Scientists are sure that the highest waves are not caused by earthquakes (because of them, tsunamis are more often formed), but by ground collapses. That's why high waves are most often:

… And other killer waves

Not only giant waves are dangerous. There is a more terrible variety: single killer waves. They come from nowhere, their height rarely exceeds 15 meters. But the pressure that they exert on all the objects they meet exceeds 100 tons per centimeter (ordinary waves "press" with a force of only 12 tons). These waves are practically not studied. It is only known that she crumples oil rigs and ships like a sheet of plain paper.