Volcano tsunami could sink southern Italy 'at any time'

[DAVIDE]

Volcano tsunami could sink southern Italy 'at any time'

Europe's largest undersea volcano could disintegrate and unleash a tsunami that would engulf southern Italy "at any time", a prominent volcanologist has warned.


The Marsili volcano, which is bursting with magma, has "fragile walls" that could collapse, Enzo Boschi told the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.
"It could even happen tomorrow," said Mr Boschi, president of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

"Our latest research shows that the volcano is not structurally solid, its walls are fragile, the magma chamber is of sizeable dimensions," he said.
"All that tells us that the volcano is active and could begin erupting at any time."
The event would result in "a strong tsunami that could strike the coasts of Campania, Calabria and Sicily," Mr Boschi said.
The undersea Marsili, 9,800ft (3,000m) tall and located some 90 miles (150km) southwest of Naples, has not erupted since the start of recorded history.
It is 43 miles (70km) long and 19 miles (30km) wide, and its crater is some 1,476ft (450m) below the surface of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
"A rupture of the walls would let loose millions of cubic metres of material capable of generating a very powerful wave," Mr Boschi said.
"While the indications that have been collected are precise, it is impossible to make predictions. The risk is real but hard to evaluate."



Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-any-time.html

Fortunately i live in the north

[Caliph]

One only hopes it doesn't happen in our lifetime

[DAVIDE]

[DisgruntledGoat]

Nothing anyone can do except be vigilant. Its not like any full scale evacuation can be planned either. Is the infrastructure even in place to alert people there of a tsunami?

[Ishoss]

There's also danger of tsunami in Norwegian fjords, there's a large mountain-block which can fall into the sea. Wouldn't come close to the sort of destruction a tsunami outside Italy would create though.

How much of the Mediterranean would be affected? I mean, it's one of the worlds densest areas. Imagine what would happen to an area like Gaza.

[DAVIDE]

Nothing anyone can do except be vigilant. Its not like any full scale evacuation can be planned either. Is the infrastructure even in place to alert people there of a tsunami?

Yes there are many infrastructures in south Italy and oceanographic-like bureaus (i dont remember their specific techinical name). But i think Italian government especially with Berlusconi will not take reports too seriously.. you just have to think that l'Aquila earthquake has been predicted by a scientist time before the event but that scientist has been mocked by Berlusconi's broadcastings like he was a fool..

Sicily population: 5.040.301
Calabria population: 2.009.252
Campania population: 5.820.795
Basilicata population: 589.355

Total: 13.459.703 people at risk

[Elfdude]

The same risk is present along the fault lines off the coast of Seatle. The last time it slipped it majorly was 150 years ago IIRC and it's on a roughly 100-200 year cycle. Similarly the fjords in Alaska are said to have generated the largest tsunami japan ever had to deal with when a mountain face slipped into the deep fjords. I think there's also a hot spot somewhere in Kentucky that generated a 9.0 earthquake within the last few hundred years. New York is also tempting fate's hurricane button.

[Phier]

At least you don't have a active super volcano sitting in the middle of your country.

[Elfdude]

At least you don't have a active super volcano sitting in the middle of your country.

It's nice to know that it's on a roughly 600-700,000 year cycle and that the last eruption was some 650,000 years ago. I'm curious if yellowstone will go off in our life times. I imagine if it did the united states would be hard pressed to maintain its status in the world.

Oh yeah, mount fuji that overshadows tokyo, and the volcano that overshadows mexico city (the worlds largest city) both could go off too.

[Angrychris]

Atleast it would end their economic woes.

[Elfdude]

Atleast it would end their economic woes.

The united states or mexico?

Cuz the US is still the richest country in the world. It's highly doubtful we'll lose that position anytime soon.

Although if mexico city was obliterated the rest of mexico would be better off. Mexico city is such a drain on the Mexican economy.

[Nazgûl Killer]

This isn't new, really. There are volcanoes like that one all over the world, Yellowstone, Vesuvius are amongst the most famous ones, but none the less there are many of them.

The only reason people are making such a fuss now is because of the earthquake panics.

[JNS]

Wasn't there a volcano in one of the canary islands that is in a similar state? I heard that if the mountain drops into the sea it would set off a tsunami that would reach as far as the east coast of the US.

[Phier]

Wasn't there a volcano in one of the canary islands that is in a similar state? I heard that if the mountain drops into the sea it would set off a tsunami that would reach as far as the east coast of the US.

Las Palmas I think.

And yea thats another potential issue.

[DekuTrash]

Someone should nuke em' just to see what happens.

=/

[The Fishman]

I doubt that there will be a problem. Things like this are often hyped up, like the La Palma landslide problem. The only thing that can be done about volcanic eruptions is to allow scientists to remain vigilant, and evacuate the danger areas if serious activity is detected.

[DAVIDE]

how you can evacuate half Italy?

[Hounf of Culan]

how you can evacuate half Italy?

with a lot of spaghetti noodles

[Tankbuster]

I'm curious if yellowstone will go off in our life times. I imagine if it did the united states would be hard pressed to maintain its status in the world.

Eh? Hard pressed?
A super-eruption of Yellowstone would kill every human being in a radius of thousands of kilometres, not to mention the tons of ash that would cover North America and the following nuclear winter.

That's when Jesus will come back

Las Palmas I think.

And yea thats another potential issue.

Yeah, but the La Palma mega-tsunami seems to be more a hype than anything else.
The Tsunami Society issued a report saying that most of it was scare-mongering and based on some really farfetched ideas (for example there's actually little to no evidence that there's a fault line seperating one part of La Palma from another.

[Phier]

Eh? Hard pressed?
A super-eruption of Yellowstone would kill every human being in a radius of thousands of kilometres, not to mention the tons of ash that would cover North America and the following nuclear winter.

That's when Jesus will come back

Yeah, but the La Palma mega-tsunami seems to be more a hype than anything else.
The Tsunami Society issued a report saying that most of it was scare-mongering and based on some really farfetched ideas (for example there's actually little to no evidence that there's a fault line seperating one part of La Palma from another.

Well good, that will be a comfort as we suffocate in Yosemite ash.