In 1905 and 1936, rock avalanches from Ramnefjellet mountain in western Norway caused two tsunamis that destroyed the villages of Nesdal and Bødal, killing 135 people. Some of the victims were never found. Today, the settlements are gone, but traces of the disasters remain: a boat carried hundreds of meters inland, memorials, and a section of mountainside where the vegetation has yet to recover.

Anatomy of a Catastrophe follows these traces through a landscape that has largely reclaimed its appearance of normality. Roads, safety barriers, and warning signs mark an environment where the geological processes responsible for the disasters have never ceased. The events of 1905 and 1936 are part of the region's history, but the mountain continues to move, and rockfalls remain a part of everyday life.