Ordinarily, Alta in Norway is brought to public attention due to the northern lights which attract many visitors each year. However, on June 3rd 2020, a powerful landslide in Alta, Norway dragged 8 homes and 4 cabins into the sea. Spanning 650m in width and 150m in depth it is a miracle no one was injured.
The landslide was filmed by Jan Egil Bakkedal, who owned one of the houses which was unfortunately swallowed up by the sea. After hearing a loud noise, he “ran for [his] life” into the surrounding hills and watched his home float away.
Soon after, the Norwegian Police Service and Royal Norwegian Airforce arrived.
Norweigan Water Resources and Energy Directorate engineer, Anders Bjordal, was also called to the scene at 4pm (CEST) to give advice to the emergency services.
He said that mudslides on this scale “seldom happen in Norway” and there has “never been a slide [this] big” in Alta.
Police spokesman, Torfinn Halvari, said a car had been swept into the sea which caused alarm but luckily no one was inside. It appeared that “no humans were in the area when it happened“.
However, a 1-year-old Norwegian Elkhound called Raija was swept away along with the houses and rubble. Thankfully, the Royal Norwegian Airforce were able to rescue Raija and fly him back to safety in their helicopter.
Amid natural disasters in the world, there are also disasters caused by humans such as gun violence. If you would like to read more about gun violence, click here for more information.
