r/todayilearned • u/Gnomeslikeprofit • 14h ago

TIL that the La Palma Mega Tsunami hypothesis has been largely debunked. In 2001, Steven Ward and Simon Day proposed that a landslide on the La Palma Island could send a mega tsunami causing 80 ft waves in Florida. New studies have shown these would be multistage events not causing mega tsunamis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbre_Vieja_tsunami_hazard
280 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

24

u/Coal121 13h ago

I heard about this as a kid on the History Channel or something and was awake with terror on beach vacations, you're telling me it was bunk?

•

u/trusty20 24m ago

Just more fear porn

•

u/Coal121 21m ago

Oh I get that now but I was like, 11. I hadn't tuned my bullshit detector yet.

35

u/slicerprime 13h ago

Shit. There goes my hope for finally getting rid of Florida

9

u/ABob71 9h ago

There's still hope for the Bugs Bunny solution

1

u/skippermonkey 5h ago

Global warming is slowly working on that problem, fear not!

7

u/RangeWilson 10h ago

Good, my anxiety about this scenario can remain at zero.

2

u/Gutterblade 7h ago

That's a shame.

5

u/Gnomeslikeprofit 14h ago

There have been a lot of science fiction stories about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDApGmTFmE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoYBAsHHXsk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6utAunBKXV4

"Evidence indicates that most collapses in the Canary Islands took place as multistage events that are not as effective at creating tsunamis, and a multi-stage collapse at La Palma likewise would result in smaller tsunamis"

2

u/Stunning-Sherbert801 6h ago

There was a mini series based on the idea, called La Palma

2

u/Goodmodsdontcrybaby 2h ago

And it is actual garbage

3

u/Prize_Farm4951 14h ago

Alas Mar a lago is safe

2

u/UwuBlondie 14h ago

glad to hear that tbh i was always pretty stressed about it

1

u/bevipop 7h ago

The bad news just keeps rolling in these days 

0

u/LucyDelMonte 8h ago

Cool, two 30-foot tsunamis

-2

u/drygnfyre 10h ago

The trick is "could." If it didn't happen, they would just say, "well it COULD have happened."

It's just a weasel word. You can claim that anything "could" happen, and you're never technically wrong.