 A wall of water up to 50 metres high crashing into the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, flattening everything in its path — not a Hollywood movie but a dire prophecy by some British and US academics. Scientists warn an eruption of a volcano in Spain's Canary Islands could unleash a "mega-tsunami" larger than any in recorded history. According to their controversial study, an explosion of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma could send a chunk of rock twice the size of the Isle of Wight into the Atlantic at up to 350 kilometres an hour. Many experts believe the risk of "mega-tsunamis" from such a massive landslide on La Palma has been hugely overstated. But in the study's scenario, energy released would equal the electricity consumption of the United States for six months, sending gigantic tidal waves across the Atlantic at the speed of a jet plane. Devastation in the United States would reach trillions of dollars with tens of millions of lives at risk. Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, Brazil, the Caribbean and West Africa would also be swamped by giant waves. |