Cumbre Vieja , the gigantic volcano that dominates the island of Las Palmas, in the Canary archipelago, has been erupting since yesterday and it seems that the event has once again raised the theory that it could cause a mega-sunami that could also devastate the Caribbean and the United States. United . A hypothesis already raised in 2001 in a BBC documentary, based on a theory by Steven Ward, professor at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California, and Simon Day, from the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Center , from the University of London. But what is true in all this?
The whole truth about the possible tsunami that ‘threatens’ after the eruption of the La Palma volcano
According to the theory of 20 years ago, in the hypothetical case that Cumbre Vieja erupts as it has now, it could end up suffering a catastrophic bankruptcy on its west flank, for which between 150 and 500 cubic kilometers of rock would be thrown. at sea.
But the truth is that theory and reality are far apart since volcanologists and experts have denied it. Specifically, Juan Rueda, a volcanologist at the National Geographic Institute , has stated that there is no “scientific evidence” that this type of landslide will occur, much less that it will cause a mega-tsunami.
On the other hand, the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (INVOLVCAN) also denies that a tsunami is going to occur since for this, not only a gap would have to be opened in the old summit, but also a high-magnitude earthquake and also a great volcanic explosion. Or it could also happen if the current volcano grew 1,000 meters more above its maximum elevation, but to get to measure that it would take at least 40,000 years.
What if there is an explosion at the Cumbre Vieja?
And in the event of a crater explosion, it could indeed collapse the entire western slope of the Cumbre Vieja in one fell swoop, unleashing the massive tsunami across the Atlantic basin. But it is much more likely that smaller landslides will occur from the eruption that occurred , which could eventually crumble (after many other eruptions) the west side of the volcano , causing more landslides in the different corners of the volcano. the volcanic wall, which has a considerable slope and which is an almost perfect condition for the development of large gravitational landslides. Landslides that however should not have enough energy to create a gigantic tsunami , as predicted in the 2001 study.
What is a megatsunami ?
A megatsunami corresponds to tsunamis that have waves that exceed the waves of a tectonic tidal wave in height. The last megatsunami to occur occurred on Reunion Island about 4,000 years ago.
