1963 Vajont Dam disaster

At 22:39 local time on 9 October a landslide of some 270 million cubic metres of rock and debris came off the slope of Mt. Toc and collapsed into the Vaiont reservoir in northern Italy, driving a sudden wave of water over the dam. The dam had been built in the Vaiont Gorge to supply hydroelectric power to northern Italy. Death tolls differ between accounts, from 1,910 to more than 2,000.

Date and time (UTC)

1963-10-09T21:39

Highest recorded water height (m)

235

Cause, as the catalogue records it

landslide

Deaths, as sources state them

1,910 to more than 2,000; estimates differ

NCEI event page

www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/event-more-info/5569

Category: Disasters & Incidents

Tags: landslide, dam, reservoir, italy, hydroelectric

Coordinates: 46.267, 12.329

Part of Tsunamis with waves of 15 metres or more from 1950 to 1999

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