Lovatnet

---

title: "Lovatnet" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lakes-of-vestland", "stryn-municipality", "1900s-landslides", "1905-natural-disasters", "landslides-in-norway"] description: "Lake in Stryn, Norway" topic_path: "geography/norway" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovatnet" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Lake in Stryn, Norway ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox body of water"]

Field	Value
name	Lovatnet
image	Loenvatnet 2.JPG
mapframe	yes
mapframe-zoom	9
mapframe-caption	Interactive map of the lake
coordinates
location	Stryn Municipality,Vestland
inflow	Kjenndalselva river
outflow	Loelva river
basin_countries	Norway
length	11 km
width	1.5 km
area	10.49 km2
shore	26.98 km
elevation	52 m
reference	NVE
::

|name = Lovatnet |native_name = |other_name = |image = Loenvatnet 2.JPG |caption = |image_bathymetry = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 9 | mapframe-caption = Interactive map of the lake |coordinates = |location = Stryn Municipality,Vestland |type = |inflow = Kjenndalselva river |outflow = Loelva river |catchment = |basin_countries = Norway |date-built = |date-flooded = |length = 11 km |width = 1.5 km |area = 10.49 km2 |depth = |max-depth = |volume = |residence_time = |shore = 26.98 km |elevation = 52 m |frozen = |islands = |cities = |reference = NVE}}

Lovatnet (also: Loenvatnet) is a lake in Stryn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located about 2 km southeast of the village of Loen and about 6 km east of the village of Olden. The lake lies just 2 km southwest of the mountain Skåla. The water from the lake flows down from the mountains; especially from the Jostedalsbreen and Tindefjellbreen glaciers. It then flows out through the Loelva river into the Nordfjorden.

Water from the tiered horsetail waterfall Ramnefjellsfossen with a total height of 818 m flows into the lake from a short distance away, by some criteria among the highest dozen waterfalls in the world. It is fed by meltwater from the glacier Ramnefjellbreen, an arm of the Jostedalsbreen glacier.

History

Landslides into the southern end of the lake from the mountain Ramnefjellet caused two major megatsunamis in 1905 and 1936. On 15 January 1905, a landslide with a volume of 350,000 m3 fell into the lake from a height of 500 m, generating three megatsunamis of up to 40.5 m in height. The waves destroyed the villages of Bødal and Nesdal near the southern end of the lake, killing 61 people — half their combined population — and 261 farm animals and destroying 60 houses, all the local boathouses, and 70 to 80 boats, one of which — the tourist boat Lodalen — was thrown 300 m inland by the last wave and wrecked. At the northern end of the lake, a wave measured at almost 6 m in height destroyed a bridge.

Geologists studied the 1905 event and concluded that little risk existed for future disasters like it, so the towns along the lake were rebuilt. However, on 13 September 1936, the second landslide occurred, with a volume of 1,000,000 m3 and falling from a height of 800 m, generating three megatsunamis, the largest of which reached a height of 74 m. The waves destroyed all farms at Bødal and most farms at Nesdal — completely washing away 16 farms — as well as 100 houses, bridges, a power station, a workshop, a sawmill, several grain mills, a restaurant, a schoolhouse, and all boats on the lake. A 12.6 m wave struck the northern end of the lake and caused damaging flooding in the Loelva River, the lake's northern outlet. The waves killed 74 people and severely injured 11. The 1936 disaster resulted in the depopulation of the area.

References

References

1. "Innsjødatabase".
2. "Informasjon om stadnamn". [[Norwegian Mapping Authority.
3. {{Cite SNL. Lovatnet. Lovatnet. 2025-10-19. Askheim. Svein. 2024-11-26
4. Hoel, Christer. "The Loen Accidents in 1905 and 1936".
5. Starheim, Ottar. (2009). "Lodalsulukkene 1905 og 1936". [[NRK]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::