[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Earthquake-triggered cascading hazards under Arctic amplification

## Details

**Authors** de Melo et al.

**Year** 2026

**Publisher** Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

**Discipline** Geology

**Secondary disciplines** Climatology

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2617210123) 
10.1073/pnas.2617210123

## In authors' words

### What they found (results)

A magnitude-6.5 earthquake on Jan Mayen island in March 2025 triggered a major rock avalanche because Arctic warming had already degraded permafrost and weakened the volcanic slope, an event with no precedent in the region's 40-year satellite record.

## Commentary

### In short

Decades of climate warming causally weaken rock stability through a multi-system chain — warming, permafrost thaw, slope failure — producing an event categorically unprecedented in the region's record.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R

**Added** 2026-09-11

**How to cite this** de Melo et al. (2026). Earthquake-triggered cascading hazards under Arctic amplification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.