Incredible moment landslide drags several homes into the sea

Several homes have been pulled into the sea in a powerful landslide that dragged hundreds of metres of earth away from the mainland.

Eight buildings, including four cabins, were dragged into the sea in the northern Norway town of Alta on Wednesday (local time), according to CNN.

At about 4pm, an area 650 metres wide and 150m deep, was ripped from the land around it by the “big clay slide”, Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate engineer Anders Bjordal told CNN.

The residences, four of which are holiday homes, were all evacuated at the time of the natural event.

Incredible video taken by a witness standing on a nearby hill captured the houses as they gradually sunk into the ocean.

One of the homes, a two-storey white house, managed to remain erect for its entire journey from land to sea.

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The others however were quick to sink into the water up to their roof, with the powerful current creating a notable circular pull. Mr Bjordal said the occurrence was rare, but not entirely unheard of.

“[They] seldom happen in Norway, maybe every one or two years,” he said.

“Here in Alta there has never been a slide that big.”

The area is renowned for its picturesque coastal landscapes, forests, mountain plateaus and Northern Lights.

Soil measurements would be collected and the area surveyed in coming days and weeks, Mr Bjordal said.

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