Worst disaster for the east coast of the US is for the underwater volcanic shelf to break off at the Canary Islands, other than a novel or two about a madmans attempt to make it let go prematurely it would create a tsunami a hundred feet tall that would wipe out everything from Newfoundland to Cuba and most of the Caribbean.
The risk of a landslide in the Canary Islands causing a tidal wave (tsunami) able to devastate America's east coast is vastly overstated.
That is the view of marine geologists studying ancient landslides in the area.
In typical Canary Island landslides, chunks of land break off in bits, not in one dramatic plunge, they argue.
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