Collapse of Fogo Volcano Generated a Megatsunami 73,000 Years ago?

Fact or Science Fiction? Why would they care anymore?

Researches working in the Cape Verde Islands  say they have found evidence that the sudden collapse of Fogo volcano, one of the world’s largest and most active island volcanoes, some 73,000 years ago, generated a giant 240-meter megatsunami wave that engulfed the Santiago Island located about 55km away.

“A 2011 French study also looked at the Fogo collapse, suggesting that it took place somewhere between 124,000-65,000 years ago; but that study says it involved more than one landslide. The French researchers estimate that the resulting multiple waves would have reached only 45 feet [15 meters],” said the report.

The report also cites the following incident, which allegedly generated a 525-meter-high wave:

“On July 9, 1958, an earthquake shook 90 million tons of rock into Alaska’s isolated Lituya Bay; this created an astounding 1,724-foot-high wave, the largest ever recorded. Two fishermen who happened to be in their boat that day were carried clear over a nearby forest; miraculously, they survived.”

It has been alleged that the wave generated by Fogo’s collapse swept up boulders like this one, weighing up to 770 tons, from the shoreline into Santiago island’s highlands. Here, a researcher is seen chiseling out a sample to establish the date of the tsunami. (Ricardo Ramalho)

A tsunami expert at the United Kingdom’s National Oceanography Center said: “even modest landslides could produce high-amplitude anomalous tsunami waves on opposing island coastlines.” The question, however, “is whether these translate into hazardous events in the far field, which is debatable.”

[The biggest known recent tsunamis that devastated the Indian Ocean’s coasts in 2004 and eastern Japan in 2011, reached a maximum run-up height of 30 meters in several locations due to the favorable topology of the coastal areas.]

Related links:

The alleged “double whammy” of the “Chicxulub asteroid impact in Mexico” exacerbated by “colossal volcanism of the Deccan Traps in India” that supposedly caused “K–Pg event” [“mass extinction”] that killed the “dinosaurs and 80% of all species [even though the “extinction” occurred over a period of several million years,]” but, again, allegedly spared species like Kimbetopsalis simmonsae and “miraculously” provided for the future “masterpieces” like humans to thrive, only to have them all committed to…

Any spare Noble prizes left in the box, Mrs. Kaci Kullmann Five?

‘Once-in-a-millennium’ Rainstorm Swamps South Carolina

Georgetown buried under water

The massive rainstorm pounding the southeastern United States has dumped more than 500mm of rain on large swathes of central South Carolina since Friday, and up to 150mm of additional rain is forecast for the region, said the National Weather Service (NWS).

South Carolina Governor Haley has called the extreme rain event a “once-in-a-millennium event.” [No, she’s not a time traveler. Editor]

The Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina’s state capital, has declared a nighttime curfew, which began at 6:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, in response to historic flooding.

“The flood is unlike anything we’ve ever dealt with before,” he said.

• About 10 weather-related deaths have been reported across the region, according to various media.
• Hundreds of roads and more than a dozen bridges have been closed. A 100-km stretch of Interstate 95, a major East Coast highway, was closed due to severe inundation.
• Hundreds of weather-related accidents have been reported.
•  Congaree River in Columbia reached its highest level in more than 80 years.

Federal State of Emergency

The White House declared a Federal State of Emergency in all 46 South Carolina counties and the Catawba Nation pummeled  by severe storms and flooding late Saturday.

The governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey have declared states of emergency, mobilizing the National Guard troops to deal with ongoing and potential disasters.

Potentially historic and life-threatening flooding continues across the Southeast —NOAA

The threat for widespread, catastrophic flooding will continue across parts of the Southeast through the remainder of the weekend, as tropical moisture feeding into an area of low pressure produces moderate to heavy rainfall across the region. Gusty winds are also possible, which could lead to downed power lines.

Hurricane JOAQUIN:  @ 11:00 PM AST Sun Oct 4
Location: 33.1°N, 65.5°W
Moving: NNE at ∼ 20 km/hr
Min pressure: 961 mb
Max sustained: ∼ 140 km/hr
[NHC/NOAA]

Related Links

• Federal Emergency Declared for South Carolina October 4, 2015
• JOAQUIN Prompts States of Emergency Declarations in 5 States October 2, 2015