Posted on 04/21/2009 9:08:02 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
PARIS (AFP) – Tsunami waves unleashed by the collapse of an unstable volcano on the Caribbean island of Dominica would hit the highly populated coast of nearby Guadeloupe within minutes, according to a new study.
"It?s not a case of 'if' this landslide and tsunami will happen, but 'when'," lead researcher Richard Teeuw, a geologist at the University of Portsmouth, said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The trigger will probably be a major earthquake, occurring after the heavy rain and coastal erosion of the hurricane season. It could happen in a hundred years or it could happen next week."
Up to 30,000 residents and tourists along the coast of Guadeloupe, a French territory 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Dominica, would have almost no time to seek higher ground, according to the study.
A million-tonne chunk of rock from the unstable volcano, called Devil's Peak, is poised to crash into the sea, and would produce tsunami waves up to three metres (10 feet) high, the geologists calculated.
Such a landslide could also weaken an additional three million tonnes of rock upslope, potentially resulting in larger waves of up to five metres (16 feet).
The result would likely be severe property damage and possible loss of life, according to the study, published in the newsletter of the American Geophysical Union.
"Guadeloupe is a densely populated island with popular tourist beaches, many of which are wide with low angle gradients," a perfect setting for so-called "tsunami run-up" and increased wave heights, Teeuw said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This is a direct result of the previous administration’s failed policies towards our neighbors in South & Central America and the Caribbean.
;^)
Dang! Higher I’d say, the coastline would funnel and concentrate the tsunami on Pointe-a-Pitre
wow.
Coming Soon , Survivor Guadeloupe
The Earth truly is a ‘living’ breathing thing that devours who it will.
Be careful out there. (/Hill St. Blues sign-off)
Zero thinks we can control the weather. Preventing a volcano from popping off oughta be a snap...
What do they mean, they have no time to seek higher ground? What's wrong with today?
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