New York City's natural hazards: Rats, roaches and & tsunamis?

SciAm ^ | Dec 30, 2008 | Jordan Lite

[CE2949BB]

Did a big wave hit the Big Apple way back when? Scientists say a tsunami struck the New York City area 2,300 years ago, possibly as a result of a meteorite crashing into the Atlantic Ocean.

[cripplecreek]

It is on the ocean so I would think it most likely has been struck by a tsunami or two in the past and will likely be hit again.

[JoeProBono]

[JimSEA]

Wasn't the last MSM generated tsunami scare in the Atlantic about a volcano related landslide in the Canary Islands?? Turned out by the time it would get to USA the threat would diminish but Africa and Europe could really get nailed.

At least by my scare tactics, we don't have to wait for an asteroid.

[stormer]

There are some that think the threat has been hyped However, there is good evidence of substantial events in the past.

From http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2001ESP/finalprogram/abstract_7493.htm: "Erosion of volcanic oceanic islands by large scale landsliding is a well known phenomenon. Many hundred km3 of rock can be removed in a single event, leaving towering headwall scars, amphitheatre shaped depressions (many previously regarded as calderas), and massive dumps of debris offshore. Here we summarise one single event which removed a substantial portion of the Canary Island of El Hierro about 12-17,000 years ago. The initial landslide involved dislocation of about 180 km3 of rock from the north-western flank of the island; about 50% of the material was derived from subaerial sources. Avalanche deposits extend to 4000 m waterdepth, cover an area of 1500 km2, and have a thickness of 250-350 m. Blocks up to 1 km across occur on the seabed up to 65 km away from the island."

An event like this could represent a significantly disruptive situation on the US eastern seaboard.

[spikeytx86]

A Canary Island Landslide based tsunami would be devastating but we would have several hours warning.

That’s enough time for folks in coastal major cities to vertically evacuate (it would take days to evacuate inland).

There would still be deaths but the death toll in the US would be greatly minimized due to the Advanced Warning.

Worst case scenario for a Tsunami would either be a large localized underwater landslide near shore or the sudden undetected impact of a meteor at least the size of half a foot ball field in size crashing into the ocean.

You would have a wave of some size with no warning.

[JRios1968]

Scientists say a tsunami struck the New York City area 2,300 years ago...

Bush's Fault!!!

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic was posted 12/30/2008. Thanks CE2949BB.

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[SunkenCiv]

This is an old topic.

[SunkenCiv]

Meteorite Strikes, Setting Off a Tsunami: Did It Happen Here?[NY]
NY Times | 29 Dec 2008 | Kenneth Chang
Posted on 12/31/2008 2:26:04 PM PST by BGHater
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2156947/posts

Meteorite Triggered Ancient New York Tsunami?
nationalgeographic.com | December 31, 2008 | Ker Than in New York City
Posted on 01/02/2009 1:09:38 PM PST by Red Badger
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2157789/posts