La Palma...

This is a scientific look at the WORST CASE senario, at the bottom are animations...Here is a website...
Here is a website the disputed the doom, I really don't care, but for the sake of the WI...

las_palmas.jpg

The island of doom.
la_palma_erdrutsch-s.jpg

This is the track of the wave
20041229-LaPalma.jpg

When it hits America...
Ok, so lets say this happens, 30 meter (98 foot) waves hit the East Coast and most of North America and 120 meter (400 foot) waves hit Africa.
What happens, keep in mind Boston, New York, Philly, DC, and thats just in the North East...
Keep in mind this is a worst case senario.
 
the website says skyscrapers would be bulldozed while a program i watched on it a few yrs back indicated skyscrapers would probablu survive.
 
Be Not There ??

I reckon the East Coast *outside* cities would be washed clean half-way to the run-up line. Nearest equivalent I can think of would be the Lituya Bay wave. That was caused by a land-slide, but the kill-zone is almost beyond belief. That anyone should witness the wave's approach from their small boat, ride the crest over a ridge and survive to tell of it is truly the stuff of legend.

We've seen a couple of tsunamis levelling modern construction around the Indian Ocean, so no surprises there. Several hotels etc survived only because their open ground-floor allowed wash-through. A taller wave would not notice a gap, might literally wash buildings off their foundations. Then there's the risk that massive debris would act as a battering ram and/or plug the wash-through spaces...

There may be local variation due 'focussing', as the Japanese have learned, but the outlook is grim for anyone on low ground.

Cities are more complex. You have the undersea topography which could focus or dissipate local wave height, offshore shallows that may 'trip' the wave, and close-ranked buildings that may act as a crumple zone...

Domino effects ? Dunno, you could get unlucky...

I suspect that a lot of the lower Caribbean islands will go under, while higher islands will find a lot of their coral reefs washed ashore. I doubt the Florida Keys will survive. I suspect Florida's water table will be contaminated for decades at least.

One nasty thought... Given that much of Florida sits on limestone that is full of interconnected blue-holes etc, the hydraulic ram effects could see random outbreaks of liquefaction, 'geysers' erupting from swallet holes, and ponds welling up to flood areas thought to be safe...

One positive thought: given that the La Palma slip would be triggered by steam-pressure within the volcano's flanks, drilling a system of vent-holes may prevent collapse *and* provide geo-thermal power.

However, across in the Pacific, the Big Island's Big Crack does not seem to be failing from anything but gravity...
 
Nice post

the website says skyscrapers would be bulldozed while a program i watched on it a few yrs back indicated skyscrapers would probablu survive.

I think it depends a lot on the speed of the wave. A small, slow one might be survivable, while a fast one will shatter concrete.

I reckon the East Coast *outside* cities would be washed clean half-way to the run-up line. Nearest equivalent I can think of would be the Lituya Bay wave. That was caused by a land-slide, but the kill-zone is almost beyond belief. That anyone should witness the wave's approach from their small boat, ride the crest over a ridge and survive to tell of it is truly the stuff of legend.

The wave biulds size and speed as the sea gets shallower. If a bot is located far enough ofshore, or just over a deeper part of topography, it might stand a chance.

If that part of Africa gets innundater with successive waves that large, over that big an area, I would not be suprise to see some permanent climate changes.

Other places...Spain, Portugal, UK, Ireland, East coast of the USA, Venezuela...you know, between Venezuela, the north sea, and the gulf of mexico, that is a significant fraction of the worlds oil production gone.
 
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