This post has just a few photo souvenirs of a boat tour on Lake Lucerne. I had the privilege of a guided tour of some of the geological, topographical and limnological features of this complicated alpine lake.
The steep face below Bürgenstock. In 1601, during a massive earthquake with its epicenter in the Lake Lucerne area (est. magnitude 6.2), part of this mountain dropped into the lake, causing a tsunami that wiped out buildings and shorelines all around. The tremors caused considerable damage and were felt in most parts of Switzerland as well as in neighbouring regions in France, Germany and Italy.In Lucerne, due to the massive ebb and flow of the lake, people were able to cross the Reuss river on foot every ten minutes for several days. About a dozen mud and landslides all around the lakeshore caused huge towering waves. It must have been really scary to see. No-one quite knows just how frequent such earthquakes are in a zone that is at the boundary between the Mediterranean tectonic plate and the more northerly Molasse region.
For a less amateurish account, see Schnellmann et al., Prehistoric earthquake history revealed by lacustrine slump deposits, Geology.2002; 30: 1131-1134.
Elsewhere, as we were slowly approaching Lucerne, we saw the scars of mudslides caused by the August 2005 rains:
This one engulfed several buildings -- luckily, it was a creeping slide and everyone had been evacuated.It is hard to imagine those frightful times on a day like this -- picturesque Hertenstein peninsula:
Bye for now. Thank you for any comments you may wish to leave!
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