Lovatnet (also Loenvatnet) is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

in the municipality of

Stryn Stryn is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Stryn. The municipality is located along the innermost part of ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, whe ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located about southeast of the village of Loen and about east of the village of

Olden Olden may refer to: Places * Olden, Norway, a village in Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway * Olden, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Olden, Texas, a community in Eastland county, Texas, USA People * Charles Smith Olden, an American p ...

. The lake lies just southwest of the mountain Skåla. The water from the lake flows down from the mountains; especially from the

Jostedalsbreen Jostedal Glacier or is the largest glacier in continental Europe. It is in Vestland county in Western Norway. Jostedalsbreen lies in the municipalities of Luster, Sogndal, Sunnfjord, and Stryn. The highest peak in the area is Lodalskåpa at a ...

and Tindefjellbreen

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s. It then flows out through the Loelva river into the Nordfjorden. Water from the tiered horsetail waterfall Ramnefjellsfossen with a total height of 818m flows into the lake from a short distance away, by some criteria among the highest dozen waterfalls in the world. It is fed by meltwater from the glacier Ramnefjellbreen, an arm of the

glacier.

Landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

s into the southern end of the lake from the mountain Ramnefjellet caused two major tsunamis in 1905 and 1936. On 15 January 1905, a landslide with a volume of fell into the lake from a height of , generating three

megatsunami A megatsunami is a very large wave created by a large, sudden displacement of material into a body of water. Megatsunamis have quite different features from ordinary tsunamis. Ordinary tsunamis are caused by underwater tectonic activity (movemen ...

s of up to in height. The waves destroyed the villages of Bødal and Nesdal near the southern end of the lake, killing 61 people — half their combined population — and 261 farm animals and destroying 60 houses, all the local

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

s, and 70 to 80 boats, one of which — the tourist boat ''Lodalen'' — was thrown inland by the last wave and wrecked. At the northern end of the lake, a wave measured at almost in height destroyed a bridge.Hoel, Christer, "The Loen Accidents in 1905 and 1936," fjords.com Retrieved 22 June 2020
/ref>

Geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, alt ...

s studied the 1905 event and concluded that little risk existed for future disasters like it, so the towns along the lake were rebuilt. However, on 13 September 1936, the second landslide occurred, with a volume of and falling from a height of , generating three megatsunamis, the largest of which reached a height of . The waves destroyed all farms at Bødal and most farms at Nesdal — completely washing away 16 farms — as well as 100 houses, bridges, a

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

, a

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the on ...

, a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

, several

grain mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

s, a restaurant, a schoolhouse, and all boats on the lake; The waves carried the wreck of the ''Lodalen'' a further inland. A wave struck the northern end of the lake and caused damaging flooding in the Loelva River, the lake's northern outlet. The waves killed 74 people and severely injured 11. The 1936 disaster resulted in the depopulation of the area.

References

Lakes of Vestland Stryn Landslides in 1905 Landslides in Norway {{Vestland-geo-stub

See also

References