The question of the highest wave ever recorded does not have a single, simple answer because wave height is measured differently depending on the wave’s origin and location. Standard oceanic waves are measured from the trough—the lowest point—to the crest—the highest point. The maximum height depends fundamentally on whether the wave is generated by wind, a sudden geological event, or a complex interaction of environmental factors. Understanding these differences is necessary to compare the ocean’s largest phenomena.
Defining the World Record Wind Waves
The highest waves generated purely by the force of wind and storms are formally tracked using a metric known as significant wave height. This height is defined as the average height of the highest one-third of waves measured over a specific time period. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed a record-breaking significant wave height of 19 meters (62.3 feet) in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the United Kingdom in February 2013. This measurement was taken by an automated buoy following the passage of a powerful cold front.
The significant wave height is an average, meaning that the maximum individual wave during that event was considerably taller. The highest individual wave height ever recorded by an instrument on a ship occurred in the North Atlantic in 2000, measuring 29.05 meters (95 feet) from crest to trough. The North Atlantic is prone to these conditions due to its wind patterns and the prevalence of intense extra-tropical storms. These measured storm waves represent the largest predictable wave sizes used in maritime engineering and safety standards.
The Science and Scale of Rogue Waves
Separate from predictable storm seas are rogue waves, which are extremely large, isolated waves that appear unexpectedly. A wave is classified as a rogue wave, or “monster wave,” if its height is more than twice the surrounding significant wave height. These waves are not accounted for in standard forecasting models and pose a severe threat to even large vessels.
The first scientifically verified rogue wave was the Draupner wave, recorded on January 1, 1995, by a laser sensor on the Draupner oil platform in the North Sea. The Draupner wave reached a peak-to-trough height of 25.6 meters (84 feet) in an area where the significant wave height was only about 12 meters. The formation of these massive outliers is primarily attributed to constructive interference, where multiple wave trains align their crests, combining their energy into a single, momentary peak of extreme height and steepness.
Tsunami Run-Up and Maximum Measured Height
The absolute highest wave recorded on Earth was not a wind wave, but a megatsunami generated by a landslide, and its height is measured by a different metric called run-up. Run-up is the maximum vertical height the water reaches on a slope above the mean sea level, rather than the trough-to-crest height of the wave itself. The record holder for this measurement is the 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami in Alaska, which reached a run-up height of 524 meters (1,719 feet).
This event was triggered by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, which caused approximately 30 million cubic meters of rock to fall into the narrow, deep inlet of Lituya Bay. The massive displacement of material created a splash that surged up the opposite mountainside, stripping trees and soil. This measurement cannot be compared to open-ocean wind waves because it represents a localized, geological-driven event where the water was violently displaced in a confined space. The resulting wave that traveled through the bay was a gravity wave, distinct from wind-driven waves.
Physical Factors Driving Extreme Wave Size
The size of extreme waves is determined by a combination of atmospheric and geographical factors that work to concentrate wave energy. For wind-generated waves, one of the most important factors is “fetch,” which is the distance over which the wind blows in a constant direction across the water. A longer fetch, combined with high wind speed and duration, allows waves to absorb more energy and grow larger before breaking.
The shape of the seafloor, or bathymetry, also plays a substantial role in amplifying wave size, particularly near coastlines. As waves travel from deep water into shallow water, friction with the rising seabed forces the water column to compress and slow down, causing the wave height to increase dramatically. This process is known as shoaling, and it can transform a modest open-ocean swell into a towering breaker. Finally, constructive interference, where wave crests momentarily align to combine their energy, remains a fundamental mechanism that can produce localized, extreme wave heights across all marine environments.