Scientists have discovered that, 73,000 years ago, the biggest island of West Africa in the Atlantic, Santiago, where 250,000 people live today, was hit by a 244m high tsunami wave. The cause was the sudden collapse of the Fogo volcano at Cape Verde.
Scientists have discovered that, 73,000 years ago, the biggest island of West Africa in the Atlantic, Santiago, where 250,000 people live today, was hit by a 244m high tsunami wave. The cause was the sudden collapse of the Fogo volcano at Cape Verde.
Consider that the tsunami of 2004 in the Indian Ocean (about 230,000 victims) and 2011 in Japan (about 20,000 victims), created waves up to 35 meters.
Scientists have estimated that such unexpected volcanic landslides are not common, but they pose a serious risk to create giant tsunami. However, the tsunami caused mainly not by volcanoes, but by undersea earthquakes.
The waves were so powerful they launched huge rocks weighing up to 770 tons more than 30 miles away.
Lead researcher from Bristol University's School of Earth Sciences Dr Ricardo Ramalho has warned such a wave, twice as high as Big Ben, would wreak untold destruction.
He said: "Our point is flank collapses can happen extremely fast and catastrophically, and therefore are capable of triggering giant tsunamis.
"We need to take this into account when we think about the hazard potential of these kinds of volcanic features.
"Fogo Island presently towers 9,281 ft (2,829m) above sea level, and erupts about every 20 years.
"We need to be vigilant.
"These findings stand as a warning that the hazard potential of volcanic island lateral collapses should not be underestimated, and consequently our society needs to do more to improve its resilience to such a threat."
"The potential energy for a new collapse exists but what we don't know if or when this is ever going to happen."
The Fogo volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, as it explodes every 20 years.
The tsunami expert Professor Bill McGuire, from University College London claimed such mega-tsunami events occur only once every 10,000 years.
But, he added: "Nevertheless, the scale of such events, as the Fogo study testifies, and their potentially devastating impact, makes them a clear and serious hazard in ocean basins that host active volcanoes."
The physicist Michio Kaku warned a natural disaster of 'titanic proportions' is long overdue to strike the Earth.
Dr Kaku said: "It's not a question of if, it's a question of when."
Source: canadajournal.net
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