Tidal waves which could swamp the eastern seaboard of the Americas are a
more pressing concern than the chance of an asteroid causing mass
destruction, according to scientists studying natural disasters.

Scientist Bill McGuire has told a news conference tens of millions of
people along the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada may
drown if the slow slippage of a volcano off north Africa becomes a
cataclysmic collapse.

Professor McGuire, from the Benfield
Grieg Hazard Research Centre, says that some time in the next few
thousand years, the western flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the
Canary Island of La Palma will collapse.
He says that would send walls of water 100 metres high racing across the
Atlantic.

A chunk of the volcano the size of a small island began to slide into
the ocean in 1949. There is almost no monitoring of the volcano, giving
virtually no chance of any advance warning of an eruption which could
trigger the catastrophe.

"The US Government must be aware of the threat," Professor McGuire said.
"I am sure they are not taking it seriously. They certainly should be
worried, as should the island states of the Caribbean."

He says the tsunami triggered by such a collapse would hit the other
islands of the Spanish-owned Canaries within an hour and reach the north
African coast within two hours.

--Monitoring--

Between seven and 10 hours later, waves still several tens of metres
tall and travelling at the speed of a jet plane would swamp the
Caribbean and crash into the eastern seaboards of South and North
America.

Professor McGuire has urged the governments of Spain and the United
States to fund monitoring of the volcanically active La Palma, a project
he says would be relatively cheap.

He says the slow collapse - started by an eruption in 1949 - would
almost certainly be turned catastrophic by another eruption of the
volcano, which erupts every 25 to 200 years.
The last eruption was in 1971 and prior to 1949, the previous eruption
was in 1712.

"A future president of the United States must make a call on what to do
when La Palma collapses," Professor McGuire said.

On a brighter note, scientist Benny Peiser of John Moores University in
Liverpool told the same news conference that the threat of a cataclysmic
strike on the earth by a large asteroid was fading rapidly as money was
pumped into finding them.

He says that within 10 to 30 years, all the near-earth asteroids will
have been charted and scientists believe they can find a way to steer an
asteroid out of the way of the earth, as long as they have enough
warning it is coming.

-- Reuters

Tidal waves which could swamp the eastern seaboard of the Americas are a
more pressing concern than the chance of an asteroid causing mass
destruction, according to scientists studying natural disasters.

Scientist Bill McGuire has told a news conference tens of millions of
people along the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada may
drown if the slow slippage of a volcano off north Africa becomes a
cataclysmic collapse.

Professor McGuire, from the Benfield
Grieg Hazard Research Centre, says that some time in the next few
thousand years, the western flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the
Canary Island of La Palma will collapse.
He says that would send walls of water 100 metres high racing across the
Atlantic.

A chunk of the volcano the size of a small island began to slide into
the ocean in 1949. There is almost no monitoring of the volcano, giving
virtually no chance of any advance warning of an eruption which could
trigger the catastrophe.
SNIP
-- Reuters
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1172546.htm

Tidal waves which could swamp the eastern seaboard of the Americas are a
more pressing concern than the chance of an asteroid causing mass
destruction, according to scientists studying natural disasters.

Scientist Bill McGuire has told a news conference tens of millions of
people along the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada may
drown if the slow slippage of a volcano off north Africa becomes a
cataclysmic collapse.

Professor McGuire, from the Benfield
Grieg Hazard Research Centre, says that some time in the next few
thousand years, the western flank of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the
Canary Island of La Palma will collapse.
He says that would send walls of water 100 metres high racing across the
Atlantic.

A chunk of the volcano the size of a small island began to slide into
the ocean in 1949. There is almost no monitoring of the volcano, giving
virtually no chance of any advance warning of an eruption which could
trigger the catastrophe.

"The US Government must be aware of the threat," Professor McGuire said.
"I am sure they are not taking it seriously. They certainly should be
worried, as should the island states of the Caribbean."

He says the tsunami triggered by such a collapse would hit the other
islands of the Spanish-owned Canaries within an hour and reach the north
African coast within two hours.

--Monitoring--

Between seven and 10 hours later, waves still several tens of metres
tall and travelling at the speed of a jet plane would swamp the
Caribbean and crash into the eastern seaboards of South and North
America.

Professor McGuire has urged the governments of Spain and the United
States to fund monitoring of the volcanically active La Palma, a project
he says would be relatively cheap.

He says the slow collapse - started by an eruption in 1949 - would
almost certainly be turned catastrophic by another eruption of the
volcano, which erupts every 25 to 200 years.
The last eruption was in 1971 and prior to 1949, the previous eruption
was in 1712.

"A future president of the United States must make a call on what to do
when La Palma collapses," Professor McGuire said.

On a brighter note, scientist Benny Peiser of John Moores University in
Liverpool told the same news conference that the threat of a cataclysmic
strike on the earth by a large asteroid was fading rapidly as money was
pumped into finding them.

He says that within 10 to 30 years, all the near-earth asteroids will
have been charted and scientists believe they can find a way to steer an
asteroid out of the way of the earth, as long as they have enough
warning it is coming.

-- Reuters
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1172546.htm