Is there any chance at all that the doomsday scenarios of a gigantic tidal wave coming across the Atlantic Ocean could be about to happen?
Haven’t heard of this one?
There are hypotheses by geologists that a megatsunami could be created during an eruption of the “Cumbre Vieja” on the volcanic ocean island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.
Not familiar with the Canary Islands? They are a group of islands off the northwest coast of Africa.
Back in 1949, when the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted in the Canary Islands, it creased a 2.5 long fissure on its eastern side that caused the western flank of the volcano to slip 2 metres downwards. The thought is that another eruption of this volcano could trigger the western flank of the volano to fail and collapse into the ocean. If it falls into the ocean all at once, it is estimated that this will generate a megatsunami that will race across the Atlantic Ocean in about 6 hours. It is estimated that the wave could start at around 1,000 metres tall (3,300 ft) and would be still around 50 metres (164 ft) tall when it hits the east coast of North and South America.
There is great debate if this could/would ever happen, but if it does, millions of lives would be lost.
Just yesterday there were 2 new volcanic eruptions off the south coast of the Canary Island of El Hierro island (just south of La Palma island). Nearly 600 people were evacuated. (source) El Hierro is the smallest island in the Canary Islands. Get this – the island of El Hierro has experienced over 10,000 earthquakes since July 19 of this year – a signal that magma is rising toward the Earth’s surface.
Want to learn more? Google canary islands tidal wave
I knew this was coming: