# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/21 "2004-08-10T20:51:43Z")
No, but I bet Coloradans will have something to say when the East Coast exodus causes Denver’s population to double very hour. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/22 "2004-08-10T21:18:54Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > No, but I bet Coloradans will have something to say when the East Coast exodus causes Denver’s population to double very hour. I figure we could build a cubic structure 1 mile per side, and budget a 2’ x 2’ x 6’ booth for each refugee, and we could handle, what, 6.1 billion people. Give each refugee a private bathroom, and we reduce capacity to 3 billion people – still enough for the New Yorkers who are used to such cramped conditions. So what’s the problem, eh? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/23 "2004-08-10T21:28:35Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > A rock the size of the Isle of Man?? Has anyone told **Lobsang** about this? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/24 "2004-08-10T23:23:00Z")
Here’s the transcipt of the Discovery/Horizon show: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/mega\_tsunami\_transcript.shtml](http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2000/mega_tsunami_transcript.shtml) > [@Coldfire](#): > > Although it did cross my mind: what if Al Qeda decide to blow this island up? Yeesh. :eek: A previous thread: [Mega-tsunami as terrorist threat](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=162486) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/25 "2004-08-11T00:00:19Z")
[http://www.sciscoop.com/comments/2002/12/20/155939/55/1#1](http://www.sciscoop.com/comments/2002/12/20/155939/55/1#1) > [@](#): > > I interviewed the researchers involved for a poetential science story a while back and they said it would take far too many nukes to set the landslide off to be even remotely dangerous. Erik Baard [www.baard.com](http://www.baard.com) ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/26 "2004-08-11T00:06:11Z")
Baard? Sounds Dutch (Dutch for “beard” actually). What the hell do the Dutch know about nukes? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/27 "2004-08-11T01:31:34Z")
Let’s not let the west coasters off the hook. Oahu used to be about 10,000 feet tall but now it’s only 4,000 feet. Where’d it all go? It’s [around](http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/hawaii_review/life_stages/post_alkalic/slump2.html) here somewhere. The next one for us is the south flank of [Kilauea](http://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/space/hawaii/vfts/kilauea/whatsup/whatsup5/23.html). Unfortunately I’d be one of the first to go. ---
**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 11, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/28 "2004-08-11T03:11:18Z")
Total hijack: Seeing someone here from Hawai’i… Why is there an apostrophe in the name? What’s missing? How could it be missing when the original language not only wasn’t written with Roman characters, but I’m betting wasn’t written down at all until a few hundred years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/29 "2004-08-11T03:19:42Z")
It’s the way a glottal stop is transliterated from some languages like Arabic to English. It’s not pronounced huhWHY but rather HUH-WUH-I and the last vowel is separated by the glottal stop. It’s what divides the syllables in uh uh or a Cockney pronunciation of butter. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/30 "2004-08-11T03:24:32Z")
It’s not an apostrophe. It’s a glottal stop and called an okina. Do you know how when you say “uh-oh” your voice stops in the middle? Your voice is supposed to stop between the two I’s. And so be pronounced like [this](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Hawaii). And that’s what makes my state name the most mispronounced state name in the nation. ---
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/31 "2004-08-11T03:28:53Z")
For every action there is equall and opposite reaction. I’m applying this metaphore to American policy and countless wars America had instigated around the world ,yet there never was any major conflict ,no blood sheed on American soil(except civil war) Now with the possibility of Yellowstone blowing up ,and this huge tsunami like wave destroying Atlantic coast and hopefully Washington , we will pay the price. Just kidding 😉 or maybe not? ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/32 "2004-08-11T03:29:56Z")
> [@Gest](#): > > HUH-WUH-I Close, you lost the first I. It goes with the A in a diphthong. Try HUH-WHY-EE and don’t forget that okina ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/33 "2004-08-11T03:36:42Z")
> [@Fern Forest](#): > > Close, you lost the first I. It goes with the A in a diphthong. Try HUH-WHY-EE and don’t forget that okina I didn’t take into account our accent differences. You would HATE what I did to the name of your home if I pronounced HUH-WHY-EE in my accent. 😃 Anyway, I here a lot of people pronounce Connecticut without the second c. Is that the way it’s meant to be said? If not, CT would be a close second behind Hawai’i for mispronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/34 "2004-08-11T05:28:57Z")
100 meter waves! 500 mph! So, how far would the waters reach inland along the east coast of America? Is there any specific details about specific areas, like the Canadian maritime provinces, for example? This is the one reason I don’t feel safe living on a seaboard. I’m not too fond of volcanoes either. I think I’d feel much safer living somewhere in southern Manitoba/southwestern Ontario/Minnesota. Is there anything I should be worried about in that area? (I can’t wait for the smart-ass answers to that question. 😉 ) Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/35 "2004-08-11T05:45:21Z")
> [@nonpolar](#): > > no blood sheed on American soil(except civil war) And the War of 1812, and the Revolutionary War. Would the Revolutionary War count as on American soil? I mean, we were still British, but we declared independence. Anywho…where was I going with this? Anywho, I’m glad I don’t live on the east coast. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/36 "2004-08-11T06:01:23Z")
> [@](#): > > no blood sheed on American soil(except civil war) That’s not quite true. The Japanese bombed and attacked the outermost Aleutian Islands and shed a decent amount of blood during World War II. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/37 "2004-08-11T06:06:46Z")
And before I get nitpicked, yes I know Alaska wasn’t a state then. But since it is still American soil as far as I care. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/38 "2004-08-11T06:15:20Z")
> [@Beauty Personified](#): > > I think I’d feel much safer living somewhere in southern Manitoba/southwestern Ontario/Minnesota. Is there anything I should be worried about in that area? Yep. They already mentioned the [Yellostone Supervolcano](http://www.swvrc.org/yellow.doc) (Warning: MS Word Document): > [@](#): > > When Yellowstone goes off again, and it will, it will be a disaster for the United States and eventually, for the whole world. We volcanologists believe it would all begin with the magma chamber becoming unstable. Observations would begin by seeing bigger earthquakes, greater uplifting as magma intrudes and gets nearer and nearer the surface. An earthquake may send a rupture through a brittle layer similar to breaking the lid off a pressure cooker. This would generate sheets of magma, which will perhaps rise up to 30, 40 or 50 kilometers sending gigantic amounts of debris into the atmosphere. Pyroclastic flows would cover the whole region, killing tens of thousands of people in the surrounding area. > > The ash carried in the atmosphere and deposited over vast areas of the United States would have devastating effects. A plume of material that goes up into the atmosphere, globally, from the eruption would produce the climatic effects. This would spread worldwide and have a cooling effect that would most likely destroy the growing season on a global scale. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/39 "2004-08-11T06:19:03Z")
Sheesh… someone mentions a tsunami on the East coast and everyone gets excited. When I was in high school there was an earthquake in Alaska. A friend of mine was supposed to be at a slumber party with the rest of us. Instead, she went to the Ocean with her boyfriend. Back then, one could drive on Washington beaches. They parked her dad’s car on the beach, and went to “rest” behind a dune… How does a 16 year old explain to dad that his fairly new Monte Carlo is somewhere at the bottom the Pacific Ocean? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184/40 "2004-08-11T06:32:39Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Sheesh… someone mentions a tsunami on the East coast and everyone gets excited. We’re talking something that’s several orders of magnitude larger than the one your friend experienced. A tsunami that could conceivably kill millions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-ass-tidal-waves-could-occur-soon-ish/259184.md?page=3)