Disturbing the delicate equilibrium of a natural environment can have catastrophic consequences. A landslide, an earthquake, or an unusual wave can generate secondary events that propagate for tens or hundreds of kilometers in an impressive domino effect. One of such remarkable events happened this November in British Columbia, Canada, about 200 km northwest of Vancouver. Fortunately, there were no consequences for human settlements as the event took place in a remote area. In fact, it was discovered only weeks later by a helicopter pilot who noticed the impressive amount of debris by the coastline, and followed its trail of destruction up to the source.

According to records by seismologists (yes, such events shake the Earth’s surface much like earthquakes) a large landslide occurred on a steep mountain slope on November 28th. The debris, rushing downslope at large speed, fell into a swollen glacial lake and caused a tsunami wave. The sudden wave cut through the moraine, a natural dam formed by old glacial deposits, triggering an outburst flood: a violent, fast and destructive stream of water and debris. Footage from the impacted area is impressive: the flow scraped off everything it encountered, carving a channel along its path, and finally depositing about 8 million cubic meters of debris into an ocean inlet, changing the coastline.