This is Nuugaatsiaq. It has to be one of the prettiest places to live in whole of Greenland. It’s also one of the most dangerous. On June 17, 2017 a landslide slid off a nearby mountain, falling about a kilometre, before crashing into the fjord and sending a tsunami wave that wiped out the settlement of Nuugaatsiaq. Four people lost their lives. The settlement was evacuated, and I believe it is still unpopulated due to fears of further landslides in the area.

In 2008, Jane and I spent three fantastic days in Nuugaatsiaq, and I set much of The Shaman’s House in the settlement. We were in Denmark when the landslide happened, and I remember being very moved by tragic scenes of waves full of mud and ice crashing into the settlement, and houses floating away in the sea.

What happened in Nuugaatsiaq is a stark reminder of living on the edge in Greenland.

Chris