The ground started to tremble on November 18, 1929, just after 17:00. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake shattered the calm of the evening just off the shore of the Burin Peninsula, a finger-like protrusion south of Newfoundland, Canada. At first, residents only saw little damage, such as a few chimney pots that had fallen over.
However, an invisible force was at work at sea. Around 19:30, a 43-foot (13-meter) tsunami struck the Burin Peninsula. 28 individuals died overall from drowning or injuries brought on by it.
In addition to having a terrible impact on the nearby populations, the earthquake had a lasting impact farther out at sea. It had set off a landslide of submarines. Historical records indicate that because no one was aware that such underwater landslides existed at the time, people were unaware of this. Earthquakes and other geological events that disturb sediment make the water denser, which causes it to flow downward like a snow avalanche down a mountain. The submerged landslide, known as a turbidity current, traveled at a speed of 50 to 70 knots (57 to 80 mph) over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) from the epicenter of the earthquake on the Laurentian Continental Slope.
