Is La Palma Going to Blow?

4.9 magnitude hits Canary Island La Palma Volcano

4.9 magnitude earthquake was located in Villa de Mazo at a depth of 38 kilometers. It has been felt by the population. It is the largest earthquake since the eruptive process began in La Palma .

La Palma: Part of the main cone collapses into the main Volcano and lava from the secondary cone.

Canary Island Landslides and Potential Megatsunami

Canary Island Landslides and Potential Megatsunami

The Canary Islands are a group of seven volcanic islands that lie 100 kilometers off the coast of Africa. These islands grew over a hotspot as in the Hawaiian islands and all but one has active volcanoes. The coastlines of the Canaries are characterized by massive, steep cliffs and there has long been speculation that these features formed by dramatic collapse. What makes this possibility super significant is the fact that this process could trigger massive tsunamis that could hit the coasts of Europe, the eastern seaboard of the US, and Antarctica. In fact, speculation is that giant blocks of limestone that weigh hundreds of tons meters above sea level in the Bahamas were delivered there by a megatsunami and the Canary Island landslides are a possible culprit. And more locally, tsunami deposits found in the Canary island suggest waves in the past over 150 meters high!

Cumbre Vieja is the main volcano on the island of La Palma and has erupted recently causing large cracks to grow involving the significant motion of the western volcano flank. This has caused speculation that this flank could collapse. The flank has a volume of 1.5 trillion metric tons and models suggest that if it were to collapse it would generate a tsunami 1000 m high that would be 50 m when it arrived in Europe and along the eastern coast of the US. Because this scenario would be devastating to cities including New York, Boston, and Miami as well as coastal real estate in New Jersey, North and South Carolina, and Florida, it has been rigorously investigated by scientists.