![]() ![]() It's a newborn baby island, barely past its 4 millionth birthday, created in the last stage of what geologists call the rock cycle. This is the volcanic island of La Palma 700 miles off the northwest coast of Africa. Some eminent scientists warn that it's purely a matter of time till it happens. Man narrating: A slide from this mountain could kill millions of people in Europe and along America's eastern seaboard. Because this scenario would be devastating to cities including New York, Boston, and Miami as well as coastal real estate in New Jersey, North and South Carolina, and Florida, it has been rigorously investigated by scientists. The flank has a volume of 1.5 trillion metric tons and models suggest that if it were to collapse it would generate a tsunami 1000 m high that would be 50 m when it arrived in Europe and along the eastern coast of the US. ![]() This has caused speculation that this flank could collapse. And more locally, tsunami deposits found in the Canary island suggest waves in the past over 150 meters high!Ĭumbre Vieja is the main volcano on the island of La Palma and has erupted recently, causing large cracks to grow involving the significant motion of the western volcano flank. In fact, speculation is that giant blocks of limestone that weigh hundreds of tons meters above sea level in the Bahamas were delivered there by a megatsunami and the Canary Island landslides are a possible culprit. What makes this possibility super significant is the fact that this process could trigger massive tsunamis that could hit the coasts of Europe, the eastern seaboard of the US, and Antarctica. The coastlines of the Canaries are characterized by massive, steep cliffs and there has long been speculation that these features formed by dramatic collapse. These islands grew over a hotspot as in the Hawaiian islands and all but one has active volcanoes. The Canary Islands are a group of seven volcanic islands that lie 100 kilometers off the coast of Africa. " Our experience with volcanoes goes (back) a long way, many generations," he said.Canary Island Landslides and Potential Megatsunami It looks abandoned, with no activity," Hernandez said.īut the salt flats will survive. "As owners of this place who live here we feel very sad to see the salt flats in this condition. The eruption has also deterred visitors to the saltworks, which are also one of the island's tourist attractions. It's impossible to separate," Hernandez said, adding that up to 200 tonnes of salt had been ruined. "When the ash fell we were about to collect the salt, but it completely covered everything creating a crust on top and we cannot separate the salt from the ash. The volcano, 18 km (11 miles) from the saltworks in Fuencaliente, has been blasting out jets of lava and ash since 19 September 19, destroying hundreds of buildings and farms and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.īut the economic damage has yet to be properly evaluated. " It will take lots of work but we will be able to recover this area," he told Reuters, adding that many islanders were far less lucky as they had lost their homes and livelihoods. ![]() Now, Hernandez, a third-generation salt flat owner, is resolved to cleaning up and carrying on making salt. The Hernandez family is used to living under the threat of volcanoes - in La Palma's last eruption 50 years ago, lava stopped just 200 metres short of his family's saltworks, putting them out of business for two years. Volcanic ash darkens salt flats on La PalmaĪ blanket of volcanic ash has turned Andres Hernandez's pristine white salt flats black, ruining about a third of his annual production in the past two weeks since the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on the Spanish island of La Palma. The volcano has been blasting out jets of red-hot lava for more than two weeks, laying waste to hundreds of buildings and farms, and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.Ī decade ago, most of Europe's airspace was closed due to an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland, causing airlines billions of euros in lost revenue. 25 to allow workers to clear ash from the runway. The airport in La Palma closed for one day on Sept. Local airline Binter Canarias said it had cancelled services to and from the northern airport on Friday and diverted a flight to the southern one. La Palma's airport will remain closed until 1 p.m. Tenerife's northern airport remains open and planes can safely land and take off, but several flights were cancelled or diverted to the island's southern terminal, an Aena spokesperson told Reuters. ![]() La Palma volcanic ash cloud disrupts Tenerife flightsĪsh cloud from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spain's La Palma disrupted air traffic on the neighbouring island of Tenerife, airport operator Aena stated on Friday, a day after it closed the La Palma airport. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |