Tonga’s Clifftop Boulder Moved by Massive 50-Metre Wave

Quick Summary

• Scientists discovered a massive 1200-tonne boulder, known locally as Maka Lahi (large rock), in Tonga, which had been carried inland by a tsunami 7000 years ago.
• The wave that moved the boulder was estimated to have been 50 metres high and slammed into a 30-meter-tall cliff, carrying the rock about 200 metres inland.
• The boulder’s dimensions are striking: 14 meters long, 12 meters wide, and nearly 7 meters high. It is made of coral reef limestone breccia and was largely concealed by vegetation before it’s discovery.
• Researchers believe it could only have been shifted by immense force from a near-local underwater landslip that caused the tsunami.
• Dating indicated the event occurred approximately 6891 years ago-long before human settlement of Tonga.
• This discovery marks Maka Lahi as the largest wave-lifted boulder found on a cliff globally and one of three giant tsunami-deposited rocks worldwide.

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