Posted on 12/28/2004 6:19:53 PM PST by FormerACLUmember
Scattered across the world’s oceans are a handful of rare geological time-bombs. Once unleashed they create an extraordinary phenomenon, a gigantic tidal wave, far bigger than any normal tsunami, able to cross oceans and ravage countries on the other side of the world. Only recently have scientists realised the next episode is likely to begin at the Canary Islands, off North Africa, where a wall of water will one day be created which will race across the entire Atlantic ocean at the speed of a jet airliner to devastate the east coast of the United States. America will have been struck by a mega-tsunami.
Back in 1953 two geologists travelled to a remote bay in Alaska looking for oil. They gradually realised that in the past the bay had been struck by huge waves, and wondered what could have possibly caused them. Five years later, they got their answer. In 1958 there was a landslide, in which a towering cliff collapsed into the bay, creating a wave half a kilometre high, higher than any skyscraper on Earth. The true destructive potential of landslide-generated tsunami, which scientists named "Mega-tsunami", suddenly began to be appreciated. If a modest-sized landslide in Alaska could create a wave of this size, what havoc could a really huge landslide cause?
Scientists now realise that the greatest danger comes from large volcanic islands, which are particularly prone to these massive landslides. Geologists began to look for evidence of past landslides on the sea bed, and what they saw astonished them. The sea floor around Hawaii, for instance, was covered with the remains of millions of years’ worth of ancient landslides, colossal in size.
But huge landslides and the mega-tsunami that they cause are extremely rare - the last one happened 4,000 years ago on the island of Réunion. The growing concern is that the ideal conditions for just such a landslide - and consequent mega-tsunami - now exist on the island of La Palma in the Canaries. In 1949 the southern volcano on the island erupted. During the eruption an enormous crack appeared across one side of the volcano, as the western half slipped a few metres towards the Atlantic before stopping in its tracks. Although the volcano presents no danger while it is quiescent, scientists believe the western flank will give way completely during some future eruption on the summit of the volcano. In other words, any time in the next few thousand years a huge section of southern La Palma, weighing 500 thousand million tonnes, will fall into the Atlantic ocean.
What will happen when the volcano on La Palma collapses? Scientists predict that it will generate a wave that will be almost inconceivably destructive, far bigger than anything ever witnessed in modern times. It will surge across the entire Atlantic in a matter of hours, engulfing the whole US east coast, sweeping away everything in its path up to 20km inland. Boston would be hit first, followed by New York, then all the way down the coast to Miami and the Caribbean.
This one got my attention ... a huge earthquake with Toba next door..... I wonder how many scientists will now go 'visit' Toba? They better .....
This song was a minor hit in the '60s - '70s. It had a calypso beat:
DAY AFTER DAY Shango
Day after day, more people come to L.A.
Don't you tell anybody, the whole place's slipping away
Where can we go, when there's no San Francisco?
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Do you know the swim, you better learn quick Jim
Those who don't know the swim, better sing the hymn
Tuna at the bowl
Find fillet of much sole!
Ooooo what can you do
With a bushel of wet gold?
Day after day, more people come to L.A.
Don't you tell anybody, the whole place's shaking away
Where can we go, when there's no San Francisco?
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Where can we go, when there's no San Diego?
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Do you know the swim, you better learn quick Jim
Those who don't know the swim, better sing the hymn
Tuna at the bowl
Find fillet of much sole!
Ooooo what can you do
With a bushel of wet gold?
Day after day, more people come to L.A.
Don't you tell anybody, the whole place's shaking away
Where can we go, when there's no San Francisco?
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Better get ready to tie up the boat in Idaho
Looks like we are all going to die.
Well, *there's* a safe bet... :-)
If not, it would be Bush's fault, for sure.
Thanks ... I have not read that one yet.
Muttly used to play cards with Mega-Godzilla.
He cheated more than Mu...uh...some other people...and still owes Muttly money.
So I wouldn't put too much faith in this thing happening any time soon, either.
Those "Mega" guys are deadbeats.
I always wanted to move in the Heartland, maybe Montana.
Will it hit Washington DC? If so then, let er go!
We need a study to see if this could cause a tectonic plate shift, thus devastating North America.
:) Why not? :)
Thank you "This is probably the most tragic event of my lifetime" That is truth! :{{{{{{{{{{{{{
Actually there's no info that any PEOPLE "felt" the Sumatran quake in Oklahoma.
Seismometers in Oklahoma, as they did all over the world, EASILY felt the Sumatran earthquake. Thing is this is routine.
You can build your own seismometer for a few hundred dollars that will easily pick up earthquakes all over the world, including ones much weaker than the Sumatran quake.
I haven't seen any reports of any change in activity or new eruptions of volcanoes near the Sumatran quake.
Thank you for posting that link, re Toba. YIKES!!!
Also, wouldn't the tsunami weaken proportionally with the square of the distance from the point of propagation?
I'm in Oregon and was actually 20 miles NE of Mt St Helens when it blew in 1980. While I am biased, I would bet they are connected. Here in Oregon we have a set of volcanoes that are called the "Three Sisters" and a rather large bulge (100 sq miles) has actually risen about 9" in recent years. So I like keeping my eye on these things ... and am glad that I am upwind from the Sisters ..... and a long ways away from Toba.
Could be worse ... look at what the Dems did to California!
You left out "attacks from Space aliens."
It's always a matter of when. When will the next planet killing astroid strike? All these things are measured in geographic timescales. "When will the grand canyon be filled back up?" Since our lifespans are a blink of an eye in terms of eons... it is exceedingly unlikely we will live to see such an event. "When will mankind use up all of the earth's natural resources and evolve to cannibalism like they had to do on Easter Island before they all perished?" Someday probably, not today.
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