Cumbre Vieja volcano erupts on Spain’s Canary Islands
An earthquake swarm under La Cumbre Vieja began a week ago and thousands of tremors have followed, likely causing the eruption
The earthquake swarm doesn’t cause the eruption. Nor do the tremors. They’re both symptoms of the same thing, the magma chamber filling up/moving/getting ready to blow. Maybe. You can have the swarm without the eruption, can -= rarely – have the eruption without the swarm. But they’re both caused by the same thing, one does not cause the other.
At least they didn’t claim climate change caused it.
Yet.
JuliaM, to quote Nick Nolte “Give it time Lowenstein, give it time”.
Is this the thing that could cause a tsunami that will drown most of America and Africa ?
Ottokring, apparently not. This seems to be a fairly regular popping off; last time was the early 70s I think. Never can be sure with volcanoes though.
Certainly puts a limit on how much infrastructure to build on that part of the island. And there are road tunnels through mountain ridges I would not be using right now. La Palma is the island I always wanted to visit, up the top with a telescope amongst other things. Don’t suppose I ever shall now in the New World Order.
PJF
Oh pity (both about the tsunami and the observatories ).
The tsunami would drown the east coast of the USA to a distance of 12.5 miles according to the last thing I read. Goodnight, Virginia.
I was mightily impressed by the precision of that number. Mind you it was maybe converted from 20.0 km. Also wondrously precise.
Would it reach into the Gulf of Mexico too? Would it be sayonara to New Orleans?
It could happen. There was a large tsunami in the North Atlantic in the current interglacial.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storegga_Slide
How about us? It might depend, I suppose, whether it arrived in the Irish Sea at high tide or low tide.
How much would reach the east coast? Would London flood? Would Amsterdam, Antwerp, …?
We would get a tsunami in the UK. Even though it would be the West side falling in, the impulse physical extent would be small (point source) and not shielded much by the island. Where I am in Suffolk we would probably get two – one coming up the Channel & then one coming round the North of Scotland. I wouldn’t like to guess how big they would be though. Certainly not as big as at Hastings & Dover.
Small tsunami maybe up the Irish Sea but East Coat of England via around North of Scotland? I think not.
All unlikely though. Last eruption 1971 and many more before that.