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Research Paper | Geophysics | Nigeria | Volume 5 Issue 4, April 2016
Prediction of Tele-Tsunami from Canary Island on the West African Coastal Region
Eze C. L.
Abstract: Many tsunamis are known to have been triggered by landslides. Landslides can happen almost any place where the ground surface slopes and some of the largest landslides on Earth have been found to occur underwater. A primary hazard of submarine landslides, is landslide-generated tsunami waves. Submarine faulting moves the seafloor vertically while offshore slumping of sediments displaces large mass of water in the form of tsunami. Tsunamis from strong earthquakes can travel across the Atlantic Ocean basin. The threat of mega tsunami generation from the postulated massive slope failure of the CumbreViejastrato volcano on La Palma and the far field effects in the Atlantic coast of West Africa have been assessed. CumbreVieja's western flank appears to be relatively unstable and this flank could undergo a large-scale, gravitational collapse which could occur suddenly with little or no precursory deformation. The whole side of CumbraVieja volcano collapsing into the ocean would produce a large tsunami. The possible impact of such an event on the coast of West Africa is here examined. It has been shown that after 6 hours the tsunami will hit the east coast of South America. This point will most likely act as a new source of waves according to Hughen's principle. This wave travelling eastward opposite the original wave will lead to a wave superimposition and constructive interference at some point. The estimated travel time for the waves to reach West Africa coastal region is about 12 hours. The ultimate damage that will be done by such a tsunami does not depend only on the wave strength and run-up but also on the high Tsunami Avoidable Susceptibility Index (TASI) of the region.
Keywords: Volcanic Island, Canary Island, CumbraVieja volcano, Tele-tsunami, West African coast
Edition: Volume 5 Issue 4, April 2016,
Pages: 199 - 202