# Big-ass tidal waves could occur, soon. Ish. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184 "2004-08-10T12:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/1 "2004-08-10T12:42:56Z")
[Or so say scientists.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/naturaldisasters/story/0,7369,1279813,00.html) That’s a pretty alarming story! A rock the size of the Isle of Man?? Interesting read. 100 meter high waves, traveling at 500 MPH. Zoinks. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/2 "2004-08-10T12:51:29Z")
They’ve been showing a program about this on the Discovery Channel for the past couple of years. It ranks up there with the Yellowstone Supervolcano: There’s nothing that can be done to prevent it, and warning will do little good- especially if one of these goes off in the middle of the night. Not many people will be able to get out of the way when it happens. It’s amazing to realize, even though Man has great energies at his disposal, there are forces of nature out there capable of wiping out humanity as if it never existed. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/3 "2004-08-10T13:46:45Z")
… but don’t we have titanium-clad Space Shuttles ready to launch armed with nuclear-tipped drills so we can split them in half and cause the two halves to pass on either side of the Earth? I could swear I saw a documentary on that once… ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/4 "2004-08-10T14:11:13Z")
No immediate danger for me at least. After reading the article i saw no mention of catastrophe for Lancashire. Given all of the impending doom scenarios, I’m surprised we’ve survived as a species as long as we have. Wonder what the odds are of this and Yellowstone happening at the same time. That’d make good viewing - from a neighbouring planet. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/5 "2004-08-10T14:31:30Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > … but don’t we have titanium-clad Space Shuttles ready to launch armed with nuclear-tipped drills so we can split them in half and cause the two halves to pass on either side of the Earth? I could swear I saw a documentary on that once… This isn’t an asteroid, but a volcano on the brink of collapsing into the Atlantic. A far more statistically likely event in the short term. Wow. Something else to keep me up at night. Thanks, guys. The entire eastern seaboard could be crushed, when a funking rock falls into the water. What a world. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/6 "2004-08-10T14:41:11Z")
> [@](#): > > The worst-hit will be harbours and estuaries, which will channel the waves inland. The loss of life and destruction to property will probably be immense, according to Prof McGuire. I’m calling Home Depot for a quote on a few thousand cubits of gopher wood. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/7 "2004-08-10T15:01:58Z")
We could also be wiped out at any moment with little or no notice when any one of the hundreds of the [Near Earth Objects](http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/) that whizz over our head each year impact the surface of the planet. Poof. We’d be gone if it were big enough. If not, we could look forward to the earth being plunged into darkness as massive dust clouds invade the atmosphere and block out the sun. Fun, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/8 "2004-08-10T15:58:50Z")
From the article; > [@](#): > > Barriers would not be able to sustain the battering, and breaking the island apart before it collapses is either too dangerous or time-consuming If it _is_ inevitable, how could any preventive action be worse than nothing? And time-consuming? 😕 I really can’t think of many _worse_ case scenarios than the devastation of the Eastern Seaboard. You have the catastrophic side-effects that would go with the destruction of any city like Tokyo, London or New York such as the exodus of capital from the rest of the world along with the refugee crises. However, in the case of this happening to America, I dread to think what _any_ administration would feel compelled to do so as to maintain hegemony. It would be the beginning of a cascade of similarly horrendous events in the rest of the world. The bizarre thing is that a search on Google news brought up about fifteen articles on this issue. All were Australian or British except for just two from American outlets. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/9 "2004-08-10T17:33:36Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > This isn’t an asteroid, but a volcano Ahh. So we just need some K-rails and fire trucks? ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/10 "2004-08-10T17:41:35Z")
> [@Gest](#): > > If it _is_ inevitable, how could any preventive action be worse than nothing? And time-consuming? 😕 Well, because left to it’s own devices the island may not collapse for centuries; where if we go in there and try to do controlled demolition we could f it up and wipe out the eastern seaboard. Although, here in Boston I must admit that I’d feel a lot better about it if some one were to set up some kind of monitoring station. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/11 "2004-08-10T17:41:46Z")
Do you think that terrorists are behind this? You don’t see anything about this thing wiping out the middle east now do you? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/12 "2004-08-10T17:46:50Z")
Well, no, but that’s probably because there’s this tiny continent called Africa between La Palma and the general middle east area. 😃 Although it did cross my mind: what if Al Qeda decide to blow this island up? Yeesh. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/13 "2004-08-10T18:15:06Z")
> [@Earthworm Jim](#): > > Well, because left to it’s own devices the island may not collapse for centuries; where if we go in there and try to do controlled demolition we could f it up and wipe out the eastern seaboard. 200 hundred years is at the high end of the given range of periods between eruptions. Controlled demolitions, at worst, could only do as much damage as would be caused if the island were left to its own devices. Worst case and the whole thing slides in anyway, at least contingency plans could be made with the assurance that it wouldn’t be repeated multiple times. > [@](#): > > Although, here in Boston I must admit that I’d feel a lot better about it if some one were to set up some kind of monitoring station. How much notice could seismographs give of an impending eruption? Suppose a day plus the 9-12 hours for the wave to hit. I think the entire eastern seaboard trying to evacuate in 36 hours would rank as the worst cvil emergency in history. And that’s before the wave itself, assuming it’s not a false alarm, even hits. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/14 "2004-08-10T19:09:03Z")
And in a related story: The Associated Press Updated: 12:02 p.m. ET Aug. 10, 2004 Washington DC – President George W. Bush and Homeland Security announced today the purchase of 93,000,000 surfboards to be distributed free-of-charge to residents of the Eastern seaboard. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/15 "2004-08-10T20:07:37Z")
Seeing as the altitude of Washington, DC is only 25 feet, it’s not ALL bad! We could use a re-start of the U.S. Government every few hundred years. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/16 "2004-08-10T20:16:53Z")
In a lot of places (not NYC or other Big Cities that are right on the ocean), I think you could get everyone five miles off the shore in 9 hours. You would think that setting up a detailed evacuation plan and getting everyone ready before trying to knock it off in small pieces or something would be better than doing the “la la I can’t hear you” dance. ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/17 "2004-08-10T20:19:46Z")
This event could definitely thin the herd. When Krakatoa went in 1883, it blew off an estimated 11 cubic miles. The tsunami waves generated by the main explosion, reached a height of nearly 40 meters (more than 120 feet) above sea level, and killed more than 36,000 people in the coastal towns and villages along the Sunda Strait on Java and Sumatra islands. When Santorini (Thera) went in the 15th century, estimated at more than 6 times greater than Krakatoa, it blew a thirty cubic mile hole in the earth and wiped out the Minoans. The Ilse of Man is 227 sq. miles. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/18 "2004-08-10T20:20:16Z")
> [@](#): > > ``` > Little can be done to protect against the waves produced when La Palma collapses. Barriers would not be able to sustain the battering, and breaking the island apart before it collapses is either too dangerous or time-consuming. > > ``` I’ll tell you what’s time-consuming: repairing every dock and harbor on the coast and having all those funerals. Why isn’t this a priority that we have to just bite the bullet on? This reminds me to go get bottled water and canned food, living in the land of earthquakes. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/19 "2004-08-10T20:31:33Z")
Typical East coast over-reactive whiners. You don’t see us here in Colorado bitching and worrying about tidal waves do ya? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/20 "2004-08-10T20:49:17Z")
From the article: > [@](#): > > It has everything you could wish for in a cliche-ridden disaster movie. A beautiful volcanic island in the Atlantic is on the brink of catastrophic collapse, threatening to unleash giant waves that will wreak havoc around the globe within hours. And while scientists try in vain to make their concerns heard, the world’s governments look the other way. So maybe Plato’s story of Atlantis wasn’t supposed to be history at all. It was actually _Prophecy_ :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184.md?page=2)