A rare type of tsunami reportedly struck the east coast on June 13 with "Barnegat Light bearing the brunt of the wave."

According to the USA Today, the natural disaster is described as a meteotsunami, and had hit the coast of New Jersey. The tide gauges were said to have spanned from North Carolina to Massachusetts. However, there weren't any reports of damage done to the coastline.

"There was a strong weather system that moved from across the eastern U.S. that day, then moved off shore New Jersey," said Paul Whitmore, the director of the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

Strong weather systems can result in spikes in air pressure, which create new waves that act like a typical tsunami.

"The impacts were greatest there in Barnegat Light. There's still a possibility that there may have been some other source involved, such as a subsea slump in the continental shelf off New Jersey," Whitmore added.

A tsunami is a Japanese word for harbor wave, which can reach many feet high and is caused by underground earthquakes or volcanoes that move large amounts of water. Over 230,000 people died when an Indian Ocean tsunami swept the coastlines of 14 countries in 2004.

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