Photo by Screenshot/Háfjall

A glacial calving in southeast Iceland caused a sudden large wave that sent observing tourists scrambling for cover, and the event was captured on video.

The moment was shared by Háfjall, a tour company located in Höfn, southeast Iceland. Here, we see tourists visiting Jökulsárlón, with the glacier Breiðamerkurjökull in the background. Suddenly, several enormous pieces of the glacier broke off and fell into the water—an event known as calving—prompting nearby tour guides to alert visitors to clear the area immediately.

As can be seen, these visitors all managed to scramble to safety in time. Fortunately so, as the wave caused by the calving moved quite far onto the shore, bringing with it the potential undertow that could have carried people into the freezing waters.

Iceland’s glaciers are indeed melting, as we reported in depth in a feature article, but glacial calving is a regular occurrence and breathtaking to witness—from a safe distance.