The place --- Here. The time ---Now.
Last round I blogged about Natural Hazards and the Demise of Civilization. The civilization was the Minoans of 1628 BC. Like the goings-on in the original Star Wars trilogy, that demise happened a long, long time ago in a place far, far away. So long and so far really, that both seem more fairy tale than fact.
Whether fact or fiction, I think that most folks better relate to stories framed in recognizable surroundings. Rod Serling, creator of the Twilight Zone, embraced this notion as he frequently grounded an otherwise outlandish episode with the preface…
“The place --- Here. The time —Now”.
Humm…. what “Here and Now” natural hazard can I present that might demise a civilization? I know…. How about Mega-Tsunami? You have probably heard of this. A collapse of a volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma sends a 20 meter tall wave to coasts all around the Atlantic Ocean.
What would happen if a La Palma mega-tsunami struck North America?
The place – New England. The time – Today.
I’ve generated physics-based simulations of such a wave, both in the two movies here and in the YouTube link below. I don’t know if a La Palma mega-tsunami would cause the demise of American Civilization, but as you can see, it would be indeed a bad day and perhaps not so far, far away.
Watch Mega-Tsunami: New England http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeHmbhrEEmQ
Steven N. Ward Santa Cruz
About OpenHazards Bloggers
Steven Ward is a Research Geophysicist at
the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, UC Santa Cruz. He specializes in the quantification and simulation of
natural hazards. Read Steve's blog.
John Rundle is a Distinguished Professor of Physics
and Geology at UC Davis and
the Executive Director of the APEC Collaboration for Earthquake Simulations. He
chaired the Board of Advisors for the Southern California Earthquake Center from 1994 to 1996. Read John's blog.
Comments
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