Tag Archives: Plates

Canary Islands Tidal Wave

El Hierro Volcano: Is one of the smallest of the Canary Islands, the origins of the island date back some 100 million years when the ocean floor shifted with the movement of the Earth’s mantle. The crust cracked into a three pointed star releasing flows of magma. After 3 eruptions, the island emerged from the ocean as an imposing volcano more than 2000 meters high. It has now been over 200 years since the last eruption but El Hierro. Although being the smallest island, it has the largest number of volcanoes with over 500 open sky cones and another 300 covered by the most recent outflows. There has been uncertainty surrounding reports of a historical eruption taking place in 1793. Meanwhile, scientific research is predicting that an eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, at La Palma in the Canary Islands would result in a massive mega-tsunami that would reach the East Coast of America. Geological evidence suggests that during a future eruption, Cumbre Vieja Volcano on the Island of La Palma may experience a catastrophic failure of its west flank, dropping 150 to 500 km3 of rock into the sea. Using a geologically reasonable estimate of landslide motion, we model tsunami waves produced by such a collapse. Waves generated by the run-out of a 500 km3 (150 km3) slide block at 100 m/s could transit the entire Atlantic Basin and arrive on the coasts of the Americas with 10-25 m (3-8 m) height. Lateral collapses of oceanic island volcanoes rank amongst the most spectacular natural