The Large Greenland Landslide of 2017: Was a Tsunami Warning Possible?

Research Article| April 25, 2018 The Large Greenland Landslide of 2017: Was a Tsunami Warning Possible? Wei‐An Chao; Wei‐An Chao aDepartment of Civil Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, Daxue Road, East District, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan, vvnchao@nctu.edu.tw Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Tso‐Ren Wu; Tso‐Ren Wu bInstitute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Kuo‐Fong Ma; Kuo‐Fong Ma cDepartment of Earth Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Yu‐Ting Kuo; Yu‐Ting Kuo dInstitute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, No. 128, Section 2, Nankang District, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Yih‐Min Wu; Yih‐Min Wu eDepartment of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Da'an District, Taipei 10617, Taiwan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Li Zhao; Li Zhao dInstitute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, No. 128, Section 2, Nankang District, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Meng‐Ju Chung; Meng‐Ju Chung bInstitute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Han Wu; Han Wu fSeismological Observation Center, Central Weather Bureau, No. 64, Gongyuan Road, Taipei 10048, TaiwangAlso at Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan. Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Yu‐Lin Tsai Yu‐Lin Tsai bInstitute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Wei‐An Chao aDepartment of Civil Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, No. 1001, Daxue Road, East District, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan, vvnchao@nctu.edu.tw Tso‐Ren Wu bInstitute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan Kuo‐Fong Ma cDepartment of Earth Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan Yu‐Ting Kuo dInstitute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, No. 128, Section 2, Nankang District, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan Yih‐Min Wu eDepartment of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Da'an District, Taipei 10617, Taiwan Li Zhao dInstitute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, No. 128, Section 2, Nankang District, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan Meng‐Ju Chung bInstitute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan Han Wu fSeismological Observation Center, Central Weather Bureau, No. 64, Gongyuan Road, Taipei 10048, TaiwangAlso at Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan. Yu‐Lin Tsai bInstitute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan Publisher: Seismological Society of America First Online: 25 Apr 2018 Online Issn: 1938-2057 Print Issn: 0895-0695 © Seismological Society of America Seismological Research Letters (2018) 89 (4): 1335–1344. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220170160 Article history First Online: 25 Apr 2018 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Wei‐An Chao, Tso‐Ren Wu, Kuo‐Fong Ma, Yu‐Ting Kuo, Yih‐Min Wu, Li Zhao, Meng‐Ju Chung, Han Wu, Yu‐Lin Tsai; The Large Greenland Landslide of 2017: Was a Tsunami Warning Possible?. Seismological Research Letters 2018;; 89 (4): 1335–1344. doi: https://doi.org/10.1785/0220170160 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietySeismological Research Letters Search Advanced Search ABSTRACT Tsunamis generated by mass movements such as landslides, underwater slumps, and rock avalanches can lead to serious inundation of nearby populated areas. The lack of timely estimations of the moving mass volume, however, makes providing operational early warnings for landslides particularly challenging. In June 2017, a large landslide in Greenland generated tsunami waves of about 1 m high that impacted the small town of Nuugaatsiaq. We show how the seismic analysis of real‐time seismic records from the Greenland Ice Sheet Monitoring Network (GLISN) can provide estimates of essential physical properties of the landslide such as collapse mass and sliding velocity shortly after origin time. The estimation of the landslide source parameters can be utilized for tsunami‐wave simulations. We demonstrate how the real‐time integration of seismic waveform inversion with forward tsunami‐wave simulation could have enabled a timely operational warning (about 10 min) before the arrival of the impending tsunami waves at the village of Nuugaatsiaq. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.