Passengers leaving the cruise ship that was struck by a seven-story-high wave compared it to the Titanic but scientists say the rogue wave was perhaps not very unusual.
The 70-foot-high wave that struck the Norwegian Dawn smashed windows and sent furniture flying during stormy weather.
The 995-white ocean liner was sailing back to New York from the Bahamas when it hit a storm, including the huge wave. Four passengers were injured but many more were reported as being terrified.
Similar waves, which can reach up to 80 feet high, have been responsible for the loss or more than 200 shops in the past two decades, reported the New York Daily News.
Radar-based images last summer revealed 10 similar waves in just a three-week period in the Atlantic Ocean, the newspaper said.
Report by David Wilkening
