Sure - but it would take a few hundred nukes...
It would take kilotons of explosives - and I think someone would notice such activity sooner or later.
Michael Crichton's new book "State of Fear" addresses this very issue. Good read.
The BBC - Need we say more... What's that saying about candy and nuts, a wonderful Christmas?
Short answer: Even if it´s possible, there are cheaper ways to cause more destruction.
In theory, but I'll wager that even with a weakened structure it would take a tremendous amount of explosives to loosen the entire mountain. It's the steady pressure of gravity along the entire slope that's the risk.
Well now that you've posted the idea...I guess we'll see where it takes them.
The power of the Indian Ocean earthquake is estimated at
1 MILLION atom bombs. No chance at all that the cowardly,
hide in the ground, send the kids as suicide bombers, have
the capability of exploding even 1 atom bomb. Therefore this
is as far fetched an idea as it gets.
Sh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-hhhhhh... you'll give them ideas.
Michael Crichton's recent novel, "State of Fear", describes an attempt by environmental terrorists to initiate a tsunami
by underwater explosions off the coast of the Solomon Islands. Their motive was the production of a massive tsunami that would inundate California's Pacific coast and would demonstrate the effects of human initiated dramatic climate change.
In this case,unfortunately, reality has copied fiction.
When it happens we'll all be looking for you as the one who gave them the idea.
I dunno, but it provokes an interesting thought. In alpine regions, they deliberately trigger small avalanches to prevent bigger ones later. I wonder if there is a civil engineering solution? To start to cleave off threatening overhangs *carefully* before they become major catastrophes.
No. These tidal waves work when cubic miles of water are displaced by raising of the sea floor. We don't have enough explosives on earth to cause anything like what just happened.
John
PS No expert just guessing.
The quake in indonesia was described as the power of a million atomic bombs. It would take a similar amount of power to trigger a tsunami.
If terrorists had access to sufficient explosives, it would be easier to just use them conventionally.
You must consider the scale! How big of a blast would have been needed to duplicate the explosion of Mt. St. Helens? Very big - too big for conventional explosives. That leaves us with nuclear options. You are still dealing with miles of rock that although may appear to be on the virge of falling into the sea, may also be more stable than appears.
About a month ago I read a book (fiction) about how a terrorist could cause an earthquake to happen which would result in a tsunami. Wish I could remember the name of it.
It wouldn't be all bad..., if it gets New York the UN is gone.
Ummm... No.
Well maybe after Superman flies around the Earth backward, causing the Earth to reverse it's rotation, having time go backward for a while. Yeah... then it could happen.
The whole idea of La Palma mega-tsunamis has been roundly debunked by many tsunami experts. The problem is the media hasn't bothered to give any pub to the debunkers, because the original story is so exciting.
As has been noted, terrorists with enough explosive power to actually detach part of La Palma would likely be better served simply using it directly somewhere.