1979 Nice tsunami

The Nice tsunami of 1979 came on October 16. Two tsunamis struck the coast near Nice, accompanied by a landslide at the Nice Airport, and an aseismic submarine landslide. The two waves struck the coast between the Italian border and the town of Antibes (60 miles; 96 km).^[1] They reached 3 m high near Nice and 3.5 m^[2] at La Salis (Antibes) and decreased in amplitude from there.

Causes

The origin of these events has been a subject of academic and judicial debate.^[3] One hypothesis said that it was the landslide at the Nice airport; while the other stated that it was an underwater landslide.^[4]

A 0.15 km^3[5] slide took place off Nice airport while constructing the fill of the new airport, perhaps as a consequence of this work. This landslide would have caused the first tsunami. The material from this slide could have caused a submarine slide that would have caused the second tsunami.^[4]

In the second hypothesis, the major natural submarine landslide (~8.7 km²) that occurred offshore Nice caused a tsunami which would have caused a landslide of the fill of the new airport. This landslide caused another tsunami.^[4]

Consequences

Casualty estimates range between 8^[2] and 23.^[6] At the construction site, the collapsing fill killed seven people.^[2]

The tsunamis inundated a 20-mile section of the coast.^[7] The water travelled up to 150 m inland.^[2] Eleven people were swept away in Nice and one in Antibes.^[1] The airport works were finished, but this event forestalled the construction of a new port for Nice.