TSUNAMI - COULD IT HAPPEN HERE?

Yes, it could...

A tsunami wave higher than any in recorded history threatens to ravage the US coastline in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption in the Canary Islands, UK and US scientists will report today. Locations on both African and European Atlantic coastlines - including Britain - are also thought to be at risk.

The new research, a collaboration between Dr. Simon Day of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at UCL and Dr. Steven Ward of the University of California, reveals the extent and size of the mega-tsunami, the consequence of a giant landslide that may be triggered by a future eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Previous research by Simon Day and colleagues predicted that a future eruption would be likely to cause a landslide on the western flank of Cumbre Vieja. A block of rock approximately twice the volume of the Isle of Man would break off, traveling into the sea at a speed of up to 350 kilometres per hour. The disintegration of the rock, this earlier study predicted, would produce a debris avalanche deposit extending 60 kilometres from the island. The energy released by the collapse would be equal to the electricity consumption of the entire United States in half a year.

This is not a new story. The reason you may not have heard about it is because the story came out on August 31, 2001...just 12 days before the 9/11 attacks. In any event, read the whole thing. Do a Google search on Cumbre Vieja and read the study, and other relevant articles. In the wake of the disaster in Asia, it seems like it might be a good idea to do a good deal more in the way of monitoring of Cumbre Vieja and creating a Tsunami early-warning system.