1812 La Palma Event

The volcano on the island of La Palma in the Canaries erupts causing a massive landslide into the ocean as almost all of the island collapses. A megatsunami is created that races primarily north, east and south with a wall of water several hundred feet high and several miles wide. It reaches most of the shores around the North Atlantic within eight to ten hours and without any warning. Please discuss.
 
America is FUCKED and it could even lead to a Napolionic victory when the british fleet is wipe out. Also, the Spanish Empire will suffer or distroyed because their fleets will be distroyed.
 
America is FUCKED and it could even lead to a Napolionic victory when the british fleet is wipe out. Also, the Spanish Empire will suffer or distroyed because their fleets will be distroyed.

Unlikely - the majority of the British Fleet was on blockade around the coast of France at the time. IIRC then the computer projections of a Las Palmas megatsunami would lead to large waves in the Channel but not massive ones.
 
It would depend on where the British fleet was at. If it was during foul weather and they were in one of there anchorages on the coast like Tor Bay there might be problems. If they were any where other than the inshore of the British Isles or France there should not be a problem. Tsunamis don't rise to the heights they are until they get into shallower water. The big problem would be the coastal cities of the UK and continental Europe. The RN infrastructure would be wiped out with a mega tsunami like that. The port cities that would be struct directly and the shipping that was anchored or docked would be the worse thing to happen to them. England ran on trade with her colonies and friendly nations at this time.
Yes the US would have a pretty good blow but the English would be hurt a lot worse than the US with a larger percentage of its ports and merchant fleet destroyed.
 
Yes the US would have a pretty good blow but the English would be hurt a lot worse than the US with a larger percentage of its ports and merchant fleet destroyed.

Thing is, though, the La Palma slide will create a megatsunami facing the opposite direction (almost) from the UK, and while it will wrap around and waves will hit the UK, their magnitude are predicted to be far smaller than that which hits the USA. On top of this, much of the UK is sheltered by the brunt of the tsunami's force hitting other landmasses first - Spain, the Canaries and Brittany mainly - meaning that when waves hit the UK they will only really cause serious destruction to Cornwall and Devon. By the time the waves hit the major Naval anchorage in Portsmouth, the waves would probably only be around 2-5 metres high, where the predictions are that the US coastline could be hit by a wave 50m tall. By the time the wave had wrapped around the coast and drifted up the Thames to London - especially after it had curved around the twists and turns of the river in the heart of the city - it would likely be little more than a very quick-moving rough swell. It might cause damage to anything secured which is pulled against that which is holding it in place (anchors, jetties, some bridges) I can't see widescale destruction.
 
And the timing is also critical. If it happens after the War of 1812 starts. the troops in Canada may not have enough supplies to fight, and it at the time takes over 2 weeks just to get supplies from England to Canada. now if a number of ports are knocked out (or can only function with only 10% of normal capacity) in England, what happens to the troops in Canada?
 
Thanks for the comments. Other factors I was looking at were:

Effects on the US population which was at the time still concentrated on or near the coasts.

Effects on coastal agricultural land poisoned by sea water.

Effects on coastal cities like Boston, New York, Philidelphia, Washington DC, Charleston, Savannah, even down Florida to Havana and the Caribbean.

Effects on Florida.

Megatsunamis can be hundreds of feet high and several miles wide. Imagine the scene:
La Palma blows on August 23, 1812, megatsunami reaches the East Coast just as the British are taking and burning Washington DC on August 24. Suddenly, all the waters start draining out of the bays dragging ships and boats out to sea. Then, on the horizon, coming at high speed, is a 200 foot high wall of water at least a mile in width and extending all the way from north to south.
 
The volcano on the island of La Palma in the Canaries erupts causing a massive landslide into the ocean as almost all of the island collapses. A megatsunami is created that races primarily north, east and south with a wall of water several hundred feet high and several miles wide. It reaches most of the shores around the North Atlantic within eight to ten hours and without any warning. Please discuss.

Except it doesn't (apart from inaccurate and sensationalist TV programs)

http://www.lapalma-tsunami.com/
 
All right then, if not caused by a volcanic event, how about a small asteroid strike in the North Atlantic in 1812 with the same effects - with the added "bonus" of having megatsunamis racing out in all directions? What would happen when a 200ft tall wave a mile wide and a thousand miles long reaches the narrow and relatively shallow entrance to the Mediterranean?
 
All right then, if not caused by a volcanic event, how about a small asteroid strike in the North Atlantic in 1812 with the same effects - with the added "bonus" of having megatsunamis racing out in all directions? What would happen when a 200ft tall wave a mile wide and a thousand miles long reaches the narrow and relatively shallow entrance to the Mediterranean?

Congratulations, you've just killed 50% of the population of the United States, including the entire government, as well as wiped out millions in the rest of Europe and America.
 

Laurentia

Banned
All right then, if not caused by a volcanic event, how about a small asteroid strike in the North Atlantic in 1812 with the same effects - with the added "bonus" of having megatsunamis racing out in all directions? What would happen when a 200ft tall wave a mile wide and a thousand miles long reaches the narrow and relatively shallow entrance to the Mediterranean?

You have fucked over both Western Europe, North America and Northern South America. If the asteroid was any bigger you would have also fucked over the world, but thank god you didn't do that.
 
And the timing is also critical. If it happens after the War of 1812 starts. the troops in Canada may not have enough supplies to fight, and it at the time takes over 2 weeks just to get supplies from England to Canada. now if a number of ports are knocked out (or can only function with only 10% of normal capacity) in England, what happens to the troops in Canada?
?What War? :rolleyes:Whe have seen the destruction of every port city from Maine to Georgia, & over 50% of the US population. :eek: Any War is over.
 
The bats the decide to make yellowstone erupt, make california slide into the ocean, and make toilets flush in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere due to the coriolis effect :rolleyes:. Am I missing any bad science theories?
 
Actually, I was wondering what the actions of the European powers might be after seeing most of the coastal US suddenly destroyed and depopulated within a few days. Would any of them be tempted to either expand or reassert control, perhaps under the guise of reconstruction? Would surviving slaves in the south rise up or flee inland? What would happen to Florida after being flooded?
 
Actually, I was wondering what the actions of the European powers might be after seeing most of the coastal US suddenly destroyed and depopulated within a few days. Would any of them be tempted to either expand or reassert control, perhaps under the guise of reconstruction?

Well, Britain (or rather Canadian settlers) might move into what was the Ohio valley and try and reimpose some order on border areas, but most people, inculding France, Spain, Portugal and indeed Britain, will be much too busy rebuilding their ports, coastal cities and in the case of Portugal at least trying to keep the country together without the capital.

Would surviving slaves in the south rise up or flee inland?

Well, those on the coast are dead, while those inland might not see any immediate changes. In the few cases where the plantation owner is dead, but not the slaves we'd probably see the latter arm themselves for protection, but these two aren't mutually exclusive, and so it's quite possible that there would be slave uprisings to allow them to flee inland out of reach of the authorities. Particularly if abolitionist Canada is taking over the Ohio valley at the same time.

What would happen to Florida after being flooded?

Repopulation? Seriously, the State has basically been wiped out, and it'll probably take a decade or two just to remap the coasts and asertain if the land is habitable or not.
 
http://wet.kuleuven.be/wetenschapinbreedbeeld/lesmateriaal_geologie/wardday-lapalmatsunami.pdf

According to the above, I can't see Britain hurting too hard, the cities in real danger in the UK are only really Swansea, Falmouth, Plymouth and maybe Bournemouth. The wave won't be able to reach the ports in Scotland or in the north sea. There would only be minor damage to Dublin in the Irish Sea and Brighton further up the Channel.
All other British port cities are protected by land and the wave would have to be huge at these cities to wipe them out. Bristol, Liverpool, Cork and Belfast are all actually quite inland and access the sea by rivers therefore they wouldn't have much destruction only broken jetties etc.
Southampton and Portsmouth are protected by the Isle of White and other landmasses. Therefore they won't be too badly hit.

Yes many people in the South West, Wales and loads in Ireland will be killed, but nothing to really really hurt Britain and her navy or economy.

Also with America, the maps on the above link say that Miami and areas around it won't be hit due to the Bahamas. Also looking at the geography of the eastern seaboard, I don't think that Washington D.C and Baltimore could be hit as they are just too far away from open ocean, yes there is a bay but the force there won't be too bad. However, cities like Boston, New York and Savannah would of been destroyed.
 
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