Volcanic Island a Threat to US Coast

[Sunnysnet]

Scientific data about an East Coast tsunami and other visions

Volcanic Island a Threat to US Coast

December 28, 2004
The Australian

LONDON: A scientist looking to pinpoint the next big earthquake has warned the US east coast could be destroyed by a tsunami unleashed by the collapse of a volcanic island in the eastern Atlantic.

A massive chunk of La Palma, the most volcanically active island in the Canaries archipelago, is unstable, British geologist Simon Day warned yesterday.

Dr Day, of the Benfield Grieg Hazard Research Centre at University College London, said the 500 billion tonne rock could collapse the next time the volcano, Cumbre Vieja, erupts.

That would send a dome-shaped wall of water up to 100m tall - 10 times as high as the tsunamis that hit south Asia - racing across the Atlantic at 800km/h.

Waves would hit the west coast of Africa and the south coast of England within a few hours, he said.

Eight hours after the collapse, the US east coast and the Caribbean would bear the brunt. Cities from Miami to New York would be swamped by waves up to 50m high, capable of surging 20km inland, according to Dr Day's research.

Tsunamis are commonly caused by earthquakes under the sea. About three decades ago, scientists determined that such gigantic waves could also be caused by collapsing islands.

Dr Day first published his findings on Cumbre Vieja in 1999 after a two-year study into the volcano, which occupies the southern half of La Palma.

He identified dozens of volcanic vents formed by successive eruptions over the past 100,000 years and collected samples of lava to build a detailed geological picture.

He found the volcano's vents were laid out in the shape of a three-pointed "Mercedes star", the western flank of which - a mass comprising about 500 billion tonnes of rock - was gradually becoming detached as volcanic activity forced magma to the surface.

The flank is slowly falling into the sea, but a major eruption by Cumbre Vieja could cause it to fall with catastrophic effect, Dr Day said.

"Eruptions of Cumbre Vieja occur at intervals of decades to a century or so and there may be a number of eruptions before its collapse," he said.

The island has had seven known eruptions, the last of which was in 1971.

In August, one of Dr Day's colleagues, Bill McGuire, told a conference on global geophysical disasters that Cumbre Vieja could blow "any time" and warned there was insufficient watch on the volcano.

"Eventually, the whole rock will collapse into the water and the collapse will devastate the Atlantic margin," he said.

"We need to be out there now looking at when an eruption is likely to happen ... otherwise there will be no time to evacuate major cities."

AFP

www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11794033|55E30417,00.html

"Google" in 'Cumbre Vieja', which is the name of the volcano in the Canary Islands off of Africa, you will find out a lot more information. One Scientist said that this was not a matter of 'if' but 'when' this would occur and send an enormouse tsunami rushing towards the East Coast.

Do pray, many others have had dreams and visions of a tsunami hitting the East Coast.

Posted on January 25, 2005 at 09:37:56 PM by Lesley Helfrich