How a giant tsunami may sweep the Atlantic
Volcanologists on the Canary Islands have been asked to assess whether Cumbre Vieja of La Palma is facing an imminent eruption. 400 tremors in 15 hours were recorded recently sparking fears of an eruption. The volcano which previously erupted in 1949 and 1971 has also seen a 3.5cm rise in the earth over the past year. There was a 3.5 magnitude quake at 8.25pm on Tuesday night degree snort of the archipelago.
Volcanic activity has also been recorded on Hiero and Tenerife, but La Palma is most worrying to scientists due to a large portion of the island having a fault line which could cause about a third of the volcano to slide into the sea. It is this landslide which could produce mega tsnuami with estimated heights of up to 100 metres high the giant wave could spread right through the Atlantic Ocean.
Researchers from National Geographic Institute (IGN) are monitoring the site for the volcano’s activity, after the swarms which included quakes of 1.5 and 2.7 on the Richter scale and up to 17.4 miles underground. While experts have long warned that an eruption holds the potential of creating a tidal wave, they have been quick to point out a mega tsunami is unlikely.
Iain Stewart, Professor of Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth, told The Independent: “The possibility of a catastrophic collapse of the volcano is a really controversial issue amongst geologists. There has certainly been large chunks of the volcanic island that have detached in the distant past, presumably associated with volcanic activity.
“But there’s no evidence that this is happened in the last 10,000 years, and no signs that the collapse was so big and sudden that it produced huge tsunamis. It is theoretically possible, but most geologists think that smaller more localised collapses of the steep sides is more likely.
“This could generate local tsunamis with destructive waves a few metres high, but what we call transoceanic tsunamis are unlikely.”
University of California and University College London experts have a massive landslide entering the Atlantic Ocean could create a 500mph tidal wave. The last historical eruption occurred in 1712.
David Calvo, head of outreach at Involcan – the Canary Island Volcanology Institute said “Regarding the swarm (of tremors), that’s something that happens on active volcanoes, and La Palma is the most active system of the Canaries. So, there’s nothing to worry about. “It is true that this is the first swarm of this kind in the last 40 years in La Palma, but I think we have to be cautious as the seismic stations have been improving through the years, and now we can see things we couldn’t in the past.
