Preparing to Prevent a Huge Atlantic Tsunami
Compiled by John D. Furber.
Updated 3 June 2015[ John D. Furber home page ]
The following is general background information on the
Atlantic Tsunami Threat to the East Coast.
I have become very interested in the Atlantic tsunami threat because it threatens the survival of millions of people and several large cities.
The picturesque island of La Palma, in Spain's Canary Islands, is an old volcano that is slowly pushing up out of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. Every few thousand years, earthquakes and volcanic activity dislodge a piece of the mountainside, which slides into the ocean, creating a huge tsunami. The next tsunami is overdue. A huge piece of unstable mountainside is poised to slide into the ocean. This landslide is poised on the side of the island facing the East Coast of the United States. The undersea geology would focus a huge tsunami toward the entire East Coast of North America. Geophysical computer models estimate the size of the waves as several times larger than the Japanese tsunami of 2011.
A nice background summary of the situation was written by Glen Asher, in the Oye Times, 12 March 2011.
http://www.oyetimes.com/views/columns/10036-earthquakes-and-tsunamis-could-they-impact-the-atlantic-coast
Another summary in NY Magazine Oh, By the Way, an Enormous Tsunami Could Strike New York City, written by Dan Amira, 15 March 2011.
Wikipedia summarizes the situation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbre_Vieja#Future_threats
Preliminary scientific studies have been conducted by Professor Steven N. Ward of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
To watch each of the following lecture slideshows, wait until it downloads, then click or arrow to advance.
Professor Ward's home page
"Cumbre Vieja Volcano -- Potential collapse and tsunami at La Palma, Canary Islands" by S.N. Ward and S. Day (American Geophysical Union, 2001).
UCSC computer simulation QuickTime movies of tsunami initiation and propagation www.es.ucsc.edu/~ward/movies_landtsu_index.htm
"Tsunami Thoughts" Review article by Dr. Ward in CSEG Recorder.
C.V. of Professor Steven N. Ward
UCSC computer simulation QuickTime movies of coastal inundation regions www.es.ucsc.edu/~ward/movies_inundation_index.htm
"Tsunami" by S.N. Ward. Article for Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics, (Springer, 2010). This article includes hot links to computer simulation movies at the end.
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Preventive Action must start Now
Not only are these facts of fascinating scientific and historical interest, but we are able to take political and technological actions now to PREVENT a disaster before it hits us. We can encourage our governments to safely remove the unstable rock formation before it falls into the Atlantic Ocean.
I propose a bold approach:
I propose temporarily transporting all of the strip-mining and mountaintop removal mining equipment from North America to the island of La Palma. Then gradually and systematically take down the unstable mountainside of the caldera before it falls down. This will prevent a huge tsunami rushing toward the eastern seaboard of the US, as well as other Atlantic rim countries.
Government Action:
As individual citizens, we must encourage our government to take effective preventive action now, rather than waiting to clean up afterwards. We need to remind our government representatives how important this is to all of us. This is an epitome of national security.Private Sponsorship:
If the United States and European Governments are at first unresponsive, earthmoving equipment is not too expensive to be leased and operated by individual corporations or private foundations. A rapid program will need a lot of equipment and engineers, but even a small-scale effort could be reducing the risk, month-by-month. But a large mobilization would protect us sooner, and would be a small budget, by government standards. This is highly worthwhile, appropriate, and necessary insurance for society.
We must get started as soon as possible
to successfully remove the unstable mountainside
before it slides into the Atlantic Ocean.
WE MUST START BULLDOZING RIGHT AWAY.
So, if YOU have any personal contacts in Government, corporations, academia, or a philanthropic foundation, we need you to talk to them about starting this project on La Palma island.
Related Web sites:
- WikiPedia article on "Cumbre Vieja", which is the name of the volcanic mountain on La Palma.
- "PBS Frontline 'Nuclear Aftershocks'" first aired 17 January 2012, and considers the compounded risks of nuclear power plants in the path of a tsunami, such as occurred in Japan in 2011. In particular, the aging Indian Point nuclear power plant is just a few miles from New York City. Indian Point, and other nuclear power plants on the East Coast of the United States, are at risk of inundation by a tsunami from La Palma, which might result in several simultaneous nuclear power plant catastrophes on the same scale as the Fukushima melt-down, explosions, and radioactive cloud release.
- "Killer Waves" on Oracle Education Foundation's ThinkQuest.
- < http://www.diariodetenerife.info/index.php?id=39180>
Contact information:
John D. Furber
G-mail: johnfurber
Telephone: 1-352-271-8711
Gainesville, Florida, USA.
[ John D. Furber home page ]
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