Cumbre Vieja (Spanish: "Old Summit") is a volcanic ridge on the island of La Palma in Spain's Canary Islands. For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation). ... Satellite image of La Palma, with the Caldera de Taburiente visible (north is to the lower right). ... Anthem: Arrorró Capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife Official language(s) Spanish Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % of Spain Ranked 13th  7,447 km²  1. ...

This ridge extends roughly in a north-south direction and covers the southern third of the island. It is lined by several volcanic craters. Location: 28°34′N, 17°50′W.

Volcanic history

La Palma is not only the steepest island in the world but has also been the most volcanically active of the Canary Isles in the past 500 years. The last few eruptions in the ridge were in 1470, 1585, 1646, 1677, 1712, 1949, and 1971. Events May 15 - Charles VIII of Sweden who had served three terms as King of Sweden dies. ... 1585 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. ... 1646 (MDCXLVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1677 (MDCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... // Events Treaty of Aargau signed between Catholic and Protestants. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ...

1949 eruption

During the 1949 eruption, a two kilometer-long fracture opened and parts of the western half of the Cumbre Vieja ridge slipped several meters downwards towards the Atlantic Ocean. The fracture can quite easily be seen to this day. It is believed that this process was driven by the pressure caused by the rising magma heating and vaporizing water trapped within the structure of the island. Magma is molten rock located beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other terrestrial planet), and which often collects in a magma chamber. ...

Future threat

Scientists warn that in a future eruption, ranging anywhere from the immediate future to several centuries post; the western half of the island, approximately 500km³ of land weighing an estimated 500 billion tons, will eventually slide into the ocean — a so called "lateral collapse". When that happens, the resulting megatsunami would reach local heights of over 900 meters and the speed of a jetliner, reaching the African coast in three hours, the coast of England in five, and the eastern seaboard of North America in eight. This could greatly damage if not completely destroy cities along the United States' east coast, such as New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Norfolk, Virginia, and Miami with 200 to 600m high waves. It is observed that, over the last several thousand years, the distribution and orientation of vents and feeder dykes within the mountain have shifted from a triple rift system (typical of most oceanic island volcanoes) to one consisting of a single north-south rift with westward-extending vent arrays. Some argue that these structural re-organizations are in response to evolving stress patterns associated with the growth of a detachment fault under the volcano's west flank.^[1] Megatsunami (often hyphenated as mega-tsunami, also known as iminami or “wave of purification”) is an informal term used mostly by popular media and popular scientific societies to describe a very large tsunami wave beyond the typical size reached by most tsunamis (usually around 10 metres). ... A jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (usually of the turbofan type). ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... Categories: US geography stubs ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the state of New York and the entire United States. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Monument City, Charm City, Mob Town, B-more Motto: Get In On It (formerly The City That Reads and The Greatest City in America; BELIEVE is not the official motto but rather a specific campaign) Location Location of Baltimore in Maryland Coordinates , Government Country State County United... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Motto: Crescas (Latin for, Thou shalt grow. ... This article is about the city in Florida. ...

There is controversy about the seriousness of the threat at Cumbre Vieja, with indications that recent landslides there have been gradual, and as such might not generate tsunamis even if they escalated to a larger scale. Others, who have studied localized megatsunami in the Hawaiian Islands, draw distinctions between the tsunami wave periods caused by landslides and subduction-zone earthquakes, arguing that a similar collapse in Hawaii would not endanger Asian or North American coastlines.^[2]

History has also documented large and damaging tsunamis from far smaller lateral collapses of stratovolcanos and residual debris found on the seafloor does provide evidence of their abundance in recent geological time (see Storegga Slide). In recorded history, the Krakatoa and Santorini eruptions have generated devastating and deadly tsunamis, yet the damage was local and did not propagate across long distances. An earthquake and landslide in Crillon Inlet at the head of Lituya Bay, Alaska, on July 10, 1958 generated a monstrous megatsunami 524 m (1740ft) high, which stripped trees and soil from the opposite headland and consumed the entire bay, destroying three fishing boats anchored there and killing two people. Once the wave reached the open sea, however, it dissipated quickly. A cutaway diagram of a stratovolcano Mount Damavand, a stratovolcano in Māzandarān, Iran Mount St. ... The three Storegga Slides count among the largest recorded landslides. ... Krakatoa or Krakatau or Krakatao is a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. ... Santorini (Greek Σαντορίνη, IPA: ) is a small, circular archipelago of volcanic islands located in southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km south-east from Greeces mainland. ... An earthquake is the result from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... Landslide of soil and regolith in Pakistan A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows. ... Lituya Bay is a fjord (inlet) located at Latitude 58°38 North Longitude 137°34 West in Alaska. ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Megatsunami (often hyphenated as mega-tsunami, also known as iminami or “wave of purification”) is an informal term used mostly by popular media and popular scientific societies to describe a very large tsunami wave beyond the typical size reached by most tsunamis (usually around 10 metres). ... The metre (American English:meter) is a measure of length. ... This article is about a foot as a unit of length. ...

As of 2004, there is very little seismological monitoring of Cumbre Vieja in progress. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Seismology (from the Greek seismos = earthquake and logos = word) is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth. ...

Patrick Robinson, in 2004, wrote a fictional techno-thriller Scimitar SL-2 outlining a plot to destroy Cumbre Vieja with nuclear warheads, thereby creating massive tsunamis. Patrick Robinson is a novelist and former newspaper columnist. ... Techno-thrillers are a hybrid genre, drawing subject matter generally from spy thrillers, war novels, and science fiction. ...

Notes

External links

Information and sources

• Discussion
• Benfield Hazard Research Center: Why the only certainty about the La Palma tsunami is that it will happen
• Benfield HRC Q&A
• Pictures of Cumbre Vieja
• A rebuttal of Cumbre Vieja
• Another rebuttal of the possible disaster

Press articles

• CNN: Scientists warn of massive wave
• BBC: Expert says threat is being ignored.
• BBC: Threat is stated to be a worse case scenario; it might not happen.