Flash Floods Canary Islands Watch La Palma

[link to www.emsc-csem.org]


According to EMSC--European Earthquake Monitoring site there was an earthquake there today. On the Left side of page you can change the date. Go back 7 days and look at the activity in the area.

I am SERIOUSLY surprised that no-one on this board is paying attention to this. Here is an article from usgs concerning the risk.

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[link to volcanoes.usgs.gov]

Volcano Landslides and their Effects
Landslides are large masses of rock and soil that fall, slide, or flow very rapidly under the force of gravity. These mixtures of debris move in a wet or dry state, or both. Landslides commonly originate as massive rockslides or avalanches which disintegrate during movement into fragments ranging in size from small particles to enormous blocks hundreds of meters across. If the moving rock debris is large enough and contains a large content of water and fine material (typically, >3-5 percent of clay-sized particles), the landslide may transform into a lahar and flow downvalley more than 100 km from a volcano!

Volcano landslides range in size from less than 1 km3 to more than 100 km3. The high velocity (>100 km/hr) and great momentum of landslides allows them to run up slopes and to cross valley divides up to several hundred meters high. For example, the landslide at Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, had a volume of 2.5 km3, reached speeds of 50-80 m/s (180-288 km/hr), and surged up and over a 400 m tall ridge located about 5 km from the volcano!

Landslides are common on volcanoes because their massive cones (1) typically rise hundreds to thousands of meters above the surrounding terrain; and (2) are often weakened by the very process that created them--the rise and eruption of molten rock. Each time magma moves toward the surface, overlying rocks are shouldered aside as the molten rock makes room for itself, often creating internal shear zones or oversteepening one or more sides of the cone. Magma that remains within the cone releases volcanic gases that partially dissolve in groundwater, resulting in a hot acidic hydrothermal system that weakens rock by altering rock minerals to clay. Furthermore, the tremendous mass of thousands of layers lava and loose fragmented rock debris can lead to internal faults and fault zones that move frequently as the cone "settles" under the downward pull of gravity.

These conditions permit a number of factors to trigger a landslide or to allow part of a volcano's cone to simply collapse under the influence of gravity:

•intrusion of magma into a volcano
•explosive eruptions (magmatic or phreatic--steam-driven explosions)
•large earthquake directly beneath a volcano or nearby (typically >M5)
•intense rainfall that saturates a volcano or adjacent tephra-covered hillslopes with water, especially before or during a large earthquake.

A landslide typically destroys everything in its path and may generate a variety of related activity. Historically, landslides have caused explosive eruptions, buried river valleys with tens of meters of rock debris, generated lahars, triggered waves and tsunami, and created deep horseshoe-shaped craters.

By removing a large part of a volcano's cone, a landslide may abruptly decrease pressure on the shallow magmatic and hydrothermal systems, which can generate explosions ranging from a small steam explosion to large steam- and magma-driven directed blasts. A large landslide often buries valleys with tens to hundreds of meters of rock debris, forming a chaotic landscape marked by dozens of small hills and closed depressions. If the deposit is thick enough, it may dam tributary streams to form lakes in the subsequent days to months; the lakes may eventually drain catastrophically and generate lahars and floods downstream.

Landslides also generate some of the largest and most deadly lahars, either by transforming directly into a lahar or, after it stops moving, from dewatering of the deposit. Historically, however, the most deadly volcano landslide occurred in 1792 when sliding debris from Mt. Mayuyama near Unzen Volcano in Japan slammed into the Ariaka Sea and generated a wave on the opposite side that killed nearly 15,000 people.

On a volcano, landslides typically carve deep gashes into its cone or create large horseshoe-shaped craters hundreds of meters deep and more than a kilometer in width.

Volcanic landslides can...

trigger volcanic
explosions.
The illustration shows the landslide (green) and directed blast (red) that occurred during the first few minutes of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.

Before the eruption, an estimated 0.11 km3 of dacite magma had intruded into the volcano (equivalent to sphere about 600 m in diameter!). The rising magma forced the volcano's north flank (right side of illustration) outward about 150 m and heated the volcano's ground water system, causing many steam-driven explosions (phreatic eruptions).

The hot magma and surrounding hydrothermal system were unroofed by the landslide (green), and the resulting rapid depressurization caused a series of steam- and volcanic-gas-driven explosions. The explosions burst through part of the landslide, blasting rock debris northward. The resulting pyroclastic surge quickly overran the landslide and spread over ridges and valleys across an area of 550 km2.




generate lahars that
travel far
downstream.
This house is partially buried in a lahar deposit that was formed by the dewatering of a large volcano landslide from Mount St. Helens, Washington. Early on the morning of May 18, 1980, the landslide swept into the upper North Fork Toutle River valley and came to rest within about 22 km of the volcano. The landslide deposit, however, was saturated with water, and contained snow and ice blocks from the volcano's former glaciers. As soon as the landslide stopped moving, water percolated to the top of the deposit and poured across its irregular surface, forming many lahars that merged as they rushed down the valley. The peak flow swept from the deposit about 5 hours after the landslide was emplaced!

The lahar flowed down the Toutle River throughout the afternoon and evening, reaching its peak at midnight about 60 km downstream from the volcano. The lahar destroyed roads, bridges, and homes.

Many volcano landslides do not stop so close to their source, but instead keep moving by transforming directly into a lahar. These lahars can be extremely hazardous because of their size and mobility (they may travel more than 100 km). Photograph by L. Topinka in 1981




cause waves and
tsunamis in a lake
or ocean.
View of Mt. Mayuyama is toward the north (Photograph by T. Casadevall in 1991). Mt. Mayuyama is one of the dacite lava domes that form the Unzen Volcano complex on Kyushu Island, Japan. The east flank of Mt. Mayuyama collapsed without warning on May 21, 1792, and generated a landslide that swept through Shimabara City and slammed into the Ariaka Sea. The displacement of water triggered a tsunami along the adjacent shoreline of Shimabara Peninsula (visible above and right of Mayuyama) and also 17-23 km across the Ariaka Sea in neighboring provinces. The landslide and tsunami killed nearly 15,000 people, Japan's worst historical volcanic disaster.

Scientists have interpreted the conspicuous hummocks along the shore as part of a landslide deposit that occurred before 1792. Maps submitted to the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1792 as the official documents of the Shimabara Catastrophe clearly show the existence of small islands before the disaster struck.

Other historical volcano landslides are known to have generated tsunami, including:

•landslide from Kamagatake volcano on Hokkaido Island, Japan, in 1640 killed 700 people
•landslide from Oshima-Oshima Volcano on Hokkaido Island, Japan, in 1741-42 killed 1,474 people on Hokkaido and northern Honshu
•landslide from Augustine Volcano, Alaska, in 1883 triggered a tsunami that swept across Cook Inlet onto the Kenai Peninsula but caused no damage



bury river valleys
with rock debris.
A scientist stands on one of the many small hills called hummocks that form the chaotic surface of a massive landslide deposit in the upper North Fork Toutle River valley below Mount St. Helens volcano (10 km in distance). Before the landslide and eruption on May 18, 1980, a forest grew on this part of the valley floor, and a highway followed the meandering river to Spirit Lake, a popular recreation area.

The landslide deposit extends about 22 km from the volcano and buries the river valley to an average depth of about 45 m. In places, the deposit is nearly 200 m thick! The landslide covers an area of about 60 km2.

An exceptionally large landslide deposit was discovered at Mount Shasta shortly after the eruption of Mount St. Helens. This landslide has a volume of about 45 km3--nearly 20 times larger than the one that buries the North Fork Toutle River valley (above)--and it covers an area of 675 km2. Photograph by L. Topinka in 1981.





dam tributary
streams to form lakes.
View is looking northwest up the valley of former Coldwater Creek, now filled with a lake. When the landslide from Mount St. Helens slid into the North Fork Toutle River valley (foreground), it blocked the flow of Coldwater Creek. Water backed up behind the landslide deposit, gradually forming a lake about 8 km long and 55 m deep. The landslide was rushed down the Toutle valley from right to left.

Concern about the sudden breakout of water from Coldwater Lake from failure of the drebris dam or overtopping and subsequent erosion of the dam, led the Corps of Engineers in 1981 to control the lake level by excavating an outlet channel that delivers water to the Toutle River.

The fan-shaped delta on the southeast shore of Coldwater Lake forms where a stream from South Fork Coldwater Creek pours into the lake. The delta began to grow quickly when water from Spirit Lake was diverted into Coldwater Creek beginning in 1985. A long tunnel was drilled through a ridge to deliver water from Spirit Lake into South Fork Coldwater Creek in order to stabilize the level of Spirit Lake. Photograph by L. Topinka on January 13, 1984.




create a crater or
scar on volcano.
View is looking south into the crater of Mount St. Helens formed by an enormous landslide on May 18, 1980. The newly-formed crater is about 2 km wide (east-west), 3 km long (north-south), and about 600 m deep. The landslide removed about 2.3 km3 from the volcano's cone, which towered 1,035 m above the crater floor!

Large horseshoe-shaped craters, open at one end, have long been noted in many volcanic regions around the world. The origin of these breached craters has been controversial, but since the landslide and eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, many have been interpreted by scientists as the result of a landslide.

If a large landslide creates a horseshoe-shaped crater that exposes a volcano's eruptive vent, the deep crater will likely direct subsequent volcanic activity (lava flows, pyroclastic flows, or lahars) toward its breached opening. A new hazard assessment may be necessary to determine the way in which volcano-hazard areas downslope from the crater may have changed. Photograph by C.D. Miller in 1980.



All cases can be found on our old site
Historical landslides
•Mount St. Helens, Washington, 1980
•Otake volcano, Japan, 1984
•Huila Volcano, Colombia, 1994
•Casita Volcano, Nicaragua, 1999

[link to www.drgeorgepc.com]

Risk Of La Palma Collapse

EVALUATION OF THE THREAT OF MEGA TSUNAMI GENERATION FROM POSTULATED MASSIVE SLOPE FAILURES OF ISLAND VOLCANOES ON LA PALMA, CANARY ISLANDS, AND ON THE ISLAND OF HAWAII

George Pararas-Carayannis

Paper published in Science of Tsunami Hazards, Vol 20, No.5, pages 251-277, 2002. (Modified html format)

ABSTRACT

Massive flank failures of island stratovolcanoes are extremely rare phenomena and none have occurred within recorded history. Recent numerical modeling studies, forecasting mega tsunami generation from postulated, massive slope failures of Cumbre Vieja in La Palma, Canary Islands, and Kilauea, in Hawaii, have been based on incorrect assumptions of volcanic island slope instability, source dimensions, speed of failure and tsunami coupling mechanisms. Incorrect input parameters and treatment of wave energy propagation and dispersion, have led to overestimates of tsunami far field effects. Inappropriate media attention and publicity to such probabilistic results have created unnecessary anxiety that mega tsunamis may be imminent and may devastate densely populated coastlines at locations distant from the source - in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.


The present study examines the assumptions and input parameters used by probabilistic numerical models and evaluates the threat of mega tsunami generation from flank failures of island stratovolcanoes. Based on geologic evidence and historic events, it concludes that massive flank collapses of Cumbre Vieja or Kilauea volcanoes are extremely unlikely to occur in the near geologic future. The flanks of these island stratovolcanoes will continue to slip aseismically, as in the past. Sudden slope failures can be expected to occur along faults paralleling rift zones, but these will occur in phases, over a period of time, and not necessarily as single, sudden, large-scale, massive collapses. Most of the failures will occur in the upper flanks of the volcanoes, above and below sea level, rather than at the basal decollement region on the ocean floor. The sudden flank failures of the volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea in 1868 and 1975 and the resulting earthquakes generated only destructive local tsunamis with insignificant far field effects. Caldera collapses and large slope failures associated with volcanic explosions of Krakatau in 1883 and of Santorin in 1490 B.C., generated catastrophic local tsunamis, but no waves of significance at distant locations. Mega tsunami generation, even from the larger slope failures of island stratovolcanoes, is extremely unlikely to occur. Greater source dimensions and longer wave periods are required to generate tsunamis that can have significant, far field effects. The threat of mega tsunami generation from massive flank failures of island stratovolcanoes has been overstated.





INTRODUCTION

In recent years, there has been interest on the potential for mega tsunami generation from asteroid impact, large underwater slides and massive slope failures of oceanic island stratovolcanoes. Improved technology for sea floor mapping has helped identify features on the ocean floor that are indicative of large-scale kinematic processes in the distant geologic past. New satellite technology has helped identify slow processes of crustal subsidence and gradual slope failures of island volcanoes. Progress in the numerical simulation of tsunamis has been phenomenal. Supercomputers now provide realistic simulations of tsunami generation from asteroid impact and from explosions. Sophisticated software has allowed the modeling of all types of new tsunami generative mechanisms - leading to the development of better models of tsunami hazard assessment.


In spite of the advances, and in order to apply effectively the new computer technology for tsunami simulations, researchers must still make realistic assumptions of various generative mechanisms and use correct input functions in their models. Furthermore, in publicizing the results of probabilistic numerical modeling studies, there should be a clarification of what constitutes a near-term tsunami threat from that which may be caused from rare events, hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years from now. In order to plan and effectively mitigate the effects of the tsunami hazard, the assessment of risk must stay in the realm of what it is realistic now or in the near future (Pararas-Carayannis, 1988). Inappropriate media attention and misinterpretation of probabilistic research results for postulated rare events, can create unnecessary anxiety and negate present disaster mitigation efforts.


In view of extreme forecasts of mega tsunami generation and media publicity about the threat to coastal communities from the collapse of stratovolcanoes - the present study reviews the capabilities and limitations of numerical modeling, in general, in making accurate tsunami forecasts. More specifically examined are the input parameters and assumptions that were used in modeling tsunami generation from postulated massive flank collapses of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands and of the volcano of Kilauea, on the island of Hawaii. Based on available geological data and a review of historical events, the present study further examines the likelihood that such massive volcanic flank failures can indeed occur in the foreseeable future, as postulated. Further evaluated are the reliability of the numerical models in simulating realistically the tsunami coupling mechanism and in forecasting accurately near and far field tsunami effects. The 1868 and 1975 earthquakes along Kilauea's southern flank are examined as to the type of slope failures that occurred and the resulting tsunami wave generation. Also, the caldera collapses and large slope failures associated with the volcanic eruptions of Krakatau in 1883 and of Santorin in 1490 B.C., are reviewed for the type of waves they generated and for the near and far field tsunami effects. Finally, conclusions are presented on whether the postulated flank failures at LaPalma and Kilauea can occur in the near future and whether these can generate mega tsunamis that pose a realistic threat to densely-populated coastlines, far from the source region.





POSTULATED COLLAPSES OF STRATOVOLCANOES AND PURPORTED THREAT OF MEGA TSUNAMI GENERATION

Stratovolcanoes in the Canary, Cape Verde, Hawaiian, Reunion, and other oceanic islands , show common constructional and structural features, such as rift zones, progressive slope instability and past flank gravitational collapses (Carracedo, 1999; Moore et al, 1989, 1994, 1995; Moore & Clague 1992; Moore & Chadwick, 1995). At least ten major flank collapses have occurred in the Canary Island chain in the past million years. Based on this, it was estimated that a major collapse can occur somewhere in the Canaries every 10,000 years or so (Day et al. 1999). The volcano of Cumbre Vieja on the island of La Palma was identified as unstable and as a likely site for a major collapse that would presumably generate a mega tsunami (Ward & Day, 2001).


Figure 1. La Palma and the other Canary islands


Similarly, there is evidence that major landslides have occurred in the Hawaiian islands in the past. The Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii was identified as another site where a major flank collapse would generate a mega tsunami (Ward, 2001). Although no specific time frame for these postulated collapses has been provided, it was inferred that they could be induced by the next volcanic eruption of Cumbre Vieja on La Palma, or by the next major earthquake near the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.

The postulated collapse of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma.

The volcanism that has formed LaPalma and the rest of the Canary islands, is the result of transition from continental (Africa) to oceanic (Atlantic) lithosphere. La Palma is an intraplate oceanic island built by composite volcanoes on the continental rise of the Northwest African Margin. It is the largest of the western Canary Islands, rising 6500 m. above the surrounding ocean floor (Fig 1). The Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma is a very active stratovolcano. Studies of the evolutionary structural development of Cumbre Vieja's rift zones (Day, et al, 1999), indicate changes in zone geometry, disparities in activity, underlying dyke swarms along the North-South trending main zone, and - following a 1949 eruption - the development of a normal fault system along the crest of the volcano. The geometry of this fault system and the timing of its formation, in relation to episodes of vent opening during the 1949 eruption, have led to the interpretation that this is not a surface expression of volcanic dike activity, but the result of a developing zone of weakness and of deformational instability. The observations resulted in concern that the volcano's steep western flank could undergo a large-scale, gravitational collapse which could occur suddenly with little or no precursory deformation.

I will bump it for ya OP...

May turn into a 1,000 page thread from the doom freaks.

:5:

this is how we do

[link to www.es.ucsc.edu]


[link to en.wikipedia.org]

Causes of landslides

The causes of landslides are usually related to instabilities in slopes. It is usually possible to identify one or more landslide causes and one landslide trigger. The difference between these two concepts is subtle but important. The landslide causes are the reasons that a landslide occurred in that location and at that time. Landslide causes are listed in the following table, and include geological factors, morphological factors, physical factors and factors associated with human activity.

Causes may be considered to be factors that made the slope vulnerable to failure, that predispose the slope to becoming unstable. The trigger is the single event that finally initiated the landslide. Thus, causes combine to make a slope vulnerable to failure, and the trigger finally initiates the movement. Landslides can have many causes but can only have one trigger as shown in the next figure. Usually, it is relatively easy to determine the trigger after the landslide has occurred (although it is generally very difficult to determine the exact nature of landslide triggers ahead of a movement event).

Triggers of landslides
[edit] Water
[edit] Rainfall
In the majority of cases the main trigger of landslides is heavy or prolonged rainfall. Generally this takes the form of either an exceptional short lived event, such as the passage of a tropical cyclone or even the rainfall associated with a particularly intense thunderstorm or of a long duration rainfall event with lower intensity, such as the cumulative effect of monsoon rainfall in South Asia. In the former case it is usually necessary to have very high rainfall intensities, whereas in the latter the intensity of rainfall may be only moderate - it is the duration and existing pore water pressure conditions that are important. The importance of rainfall as a trigger for landslides cannot be under-estimated. A global survey of landslide occurrence in the 12 months to the end of September 2003 revealed that there were 210 damaging landslide events worldwide. Of these, over 90% were triggered by heavy rainfall. One rainfall event for example in Sri Lanka in May 2003 triggered hundreds of landslides, killing 266 people and rendering over 300,000 people temporarily homeless. In July 2003 an intense rain band associated with the annual Asian monsoon tracked across central Nepal, triggering 14 fatal landslides that killed 85 people. The reinsurance company Swiss Re estimated that rainfall induced landslides associated with the 1997-1998 El Nino event triggered landslides along the west coast of North, Central and South America that resulted in over $5 billion in losses. Finally, landslides triggered by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 killed an estimated 18,000 people in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. So why does rainfall trigger so many landslides? Principally this is because the rainfall drives an increase in pore water pressures within the soil. The Figure A illustrates the forces acting on an unstable block on a slope. Movement is driven by shear stress, which is generated by the mass of the block acting under gravity down the slope. Resistance to movement is the result of the normal load. When the slope fills with water, the fluid pressure provides the block with buoyancy, reducing the resistance to movement. In addition, in some cases fluid pressures can act down the slope as a result of groundwater flow to provide a hydraulic push to the landslide that further decreases the stability. Whilst the example given in Figures A and B is clearly an artificial situation, the mechanics are essentially as per a real landslide.

[link to news.bbc.co.uk]

BBC News Online: Sci/Tech

Wednesday, 4 October, 2000, 18:06 GMT 19:06 UK
Giant wave could threaten US

A collapsing volcano in the Atlantic could unleash a giant wave of water that would swamp the Caribbean and much of the eastern seaboard of the United States, a scientist has claimed.
Dr Simon Day, of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at University College London, UK, believes one flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma, in the Canaries archipelago, is unstable and could plunge into the ocean.


If I was living in Miami or New York and I heard that the Cumbre Vieja was erupting, I would keep a very close eye on the news
Prof Bill McGuire

Swiss researchers who have modelled the landslide say half a trillion tonnes of rock falling into the water all at once would create a wave 650 metres high (2,130 feet) that would spread out and travel across the Atlantic at high speed.
The wall of water would weaken as it crossed the ocean, but would still be 40-50 metres (130-160 feet) high by the time it hit land. The surge would create havoc in North America as much as 20 kilometres (12 miles) inland.

Dr Day told BBC Science's Horizon programme: "This event would be so huge that it would affect not only the people on the island but people way over on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean - people who've never heard of La Palma."

Destructive power

His latest work on the subject has been published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research.

On the back of this work, the Geological Society of London is to write to the UK science minister, Lord Sainsbury, to make him aware of the dangers posed by so-called mega-tsunami in the Atlantic.


The society hopes he will take the issue as seriously as he has the threat from asteroid strikes.

Scientists have known of the destructive power of tsunami - huge tidal waves - for many centuries. As recently as 1998, over 2,000 people were killed by a large wave hitting the coast of Papua New Guinea.

This was caused by an offshore earthquake. But researchers believe far bigger phenomena can be created by giant landslides.

The largest wave in recorded history, witnessed in Alaska in 1958, was caused by the collapse of a towering cliff at Letuya Bay. The resulting wave was higher than any skyscraper on Earth and gouged out soil and trees to a height of 500 metres (1,640) feet) above sea level.

Summit eruptions

Geological studies have found evidence of giant landslides elsewhere in the world such as Hawaii, the Cape Verde Islands and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

Dr Day has identified dozens of volcanic vents in the Cumbre Vieja volcano that have been formed by successive eruptions over the past 100,000 years.

He thinks water trapped between dykes of impermeable rock could create pressures that eventually lead to the western flank of the mountain falling away during some future eruption.


Hermann Fritz, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, which has equipment to model waves created by landslides, said: "If the Cumbre Vieja were to collapse as one single block, it would lead to a giant mega-tsunami with an initial wave height of 650 metres.

"It would have a wavelength of 30 to 40 kilometres (18 to 25 miles) travelling westwards across the Atlantic at speeds up to 720 km/h (450 mph) towards America."

But researchers caution that such a catastrophe may not occur for many decades.

"There could be five more summit eruptions of the Cumbre Vieja before the western flank collapses," said Professor Bill McGuire, of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre.

"There could be 10 or there could be 20 - we simply don't know. But put it this way: if I was living in Miami or New York and I heard that the Cumbre Vieja was erupting, I would keep a very close eye on the news."

Dr Simon Day's work is featured in a Horizon programme to be broadcast on BBC Two on Thursday, 12 October.

Finally, some good doom!

It's gonna happen Saturday night!

this is the anti-DOOM propaganda website. Says, naturally, not to worry.

[link to www.lapalma-tsunami.com]


here's a tidbit;

LaPalma will not slide into the sea.
Even if it did, it would not cause a tsunami that would reach the USA.


Then they go on to scientifically refute the points made by the scientists on the other side. Worth a read. Especially if you live on the East Coast and like to sleep at night.

Last Edited by humbird on 02/02/2010 02:26 PM

But, will the market crash today?

This "prediction" will ensure it will not happen

We need a little excitement to liven things up.

Doom canceled.

:5:

If you calculate the Antipodal of the Canary Islands, You get the most active earthquake area in the world, around New Zealand. They are expecting a big one there soon.
[link to www.freemaptools.com]

I´m from Canary Islands and i suggest you to not visit La Palma.

There is a grave danger if you do that... you will want to return there to all costs.

yep

Very doomy news.

Glad I live in the middle of the Pacific!

... on Saturday night anyway

I don't care, I'm protected by the eastern mountains.

At least NY would be wiped out... bunch of know it all in NY...wouldn't be a big loss.

I went to a meeting of scientists a few years ago at the A.R.E. Center in Virginia Beach where this theroy was discussed. The tsunaim-generated wave WOULD reach the US eastern seaboard of the US within 19 hours. The predicted wave could be as much as 1,000 ft in height by the time it reached Florida- 500-800 ft. where I live. They have been trying to rebuild the beach for years here by bringing in sand from the natural sand barrier, not thinking that a tsunami's height increases when it hits the natural barrier. I doubt they would tell anyone if a tsunami were headed this way, so I watch for myself. Torrential rainfall can created a landslide in Un-Stable terraine. and that is what the risk is with La Palma right now. The volcano does not necessarily have to "blow up" to create a significant landslide.

I am asking for a Temp. PIN so that people that live anywhere along the eastern seaboard OR western seaboard of Europe or Africa can read this and watch for themselves. Please MODS consider this important enough to pin. I have seen stories with less importance pinned.

A pin would be reasonable, it will not happen though.

it'll reach there too Rev, a smaller version, but still deadly i reckon.

Yeah, but I'm at around 300ft, a little over a mile inland and there's a nearly 600ft caldera between me and the ocean. Plus, the tsunami warning siren is an ear shattering 2 houses away.

Anything super huge coming this way and we have a bugout plan to head inland and up the ridge.

[link to www.youtube.com]

I am shocked that more people have not replied to this. This poses a danger on BOTH sides of the Atlantic not to mention all of the Islands! Where are all the researchers at today????

This is Update 2==

Notice that it says LA PALMA RIGHT THE F*^K ON THE PAGE! I am telling you guys, I have been watching this and the situation is more dangerous than people think.

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service
Budapest, Hungary
Back to WWA


SummaryEvent DescriptionSituation Update Google MapAdditional InformationAbout CountryPopulationRisk AnalysisPhotos Satellite Image Situation

Update No. 2
On 02.02.2010 at 19:21 GMT+2

Heavy rains and thunder storms wreaked havoc on the Canary Islands Tuesday, leaving one person dead and causing severe damage. On the holiday island of Gran Canaria, scaffolding collapsed, killing one worker and severely injuring another, according to Spanish authorities. Many of the Islands' roads were impassable due to flooding and debris left over from landslides. On Tenerife, towns were also partially flooded. The streets of the island's capital, Santa Cruz, were covered in a layer of mud washed down from the mountains. Around 30,000 inhabitants were left without electricity and many smaller villages were cut off by the floods. In San Cristobal de la Laguna, in the north of the island, mud was washed into the island's oldest church, threatening wall decorations dating back to 1499. On the island of La Palma, waves pulled parked cars into the Atlantic and 30 people had to be brought to safety because their homes were threatened by the sea.