In the present investigation we apply a pure Lagrangian finite element method to simulate nonlinear water waves due to landslides, of interest to ocean, coastal as well as to dam engineers. Validation is carried out by comparison between the computed prediction and experimental data of water waves generated by a two dimensional triangular rigid body and by a deformable granular mass sliding into water. The calculated results show that the simulations agree well with experimental observation illustrating the potential of the proposed scheme.