It is no longer necessary to demonstrate that the global warming is causing chaos in several regions of the world. Natural disasters are multiplying: forest fires, intense droughts, torrential rains? The consequences for our planet are devastating.
According to a recent study published in the scientific journal Pure and Applied Geophysics, “in a few years, the risk of a violent tsunami hitting the coasts of some European countries would be 100%”, reports Demotivateur. A wave of unprecedented magnitude that would affect the entire Mediterranean region.
“In the next 30 years,” estimate the researchers (working for the Government Oceans Commission) that there would be a 100% risk of a violent tsunami hitting the European coasts, and in particular the Alboran Sea, “an area where seismic activity is significant” the coasts of Valencia and the Balearic Islands.
The Governmental Commission for the Oceans wants to sound the alarm. According to the Commission, it would be urgent for Europe to protect itself from these disasters by organizing tsunami warning systems. Tsunamis, extremely destructive, represent a real threat to humanity.
The danger of a tsunami in the Mediterranean region is imminent. The probabilities have been increasing as a consequence of climate change. This is evidenced by the study ‘Probabilistic Tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea’, published in a geophysical research journal. And it is that the alboran Sea is one of the areas with the highest seismic activity in the country and this makes the entire Mediterranean coast, from Valencia to Malaga and through the Balearic Islands, live with the likelihood of a tsunami. For its part, the Spanish Atlantic coast is the one with the greatest number of chances of suffering a phenomenon of these characteristics.
In the Spanish Mediterranean, the highest probability of a tsunami comes from the Averroes marine faultlocated in the Alboran Sea. The data comes from a study recently published by the CSIC in the journal Scientific Reports, in which it is pointed out that not only normal and reverse faults would be capable of causing a tsunami, but also, as is the case, the directional jump faults. In fact, according to the authors, thehe waves caused by an earthquake on the Averroes marine fault could reach six meters in height and would take time to reach the coast between 21 and 35 minutes.
As far as the coast of Huelva and Cadiz is concerned, the probability of a tsunami of 1 meter high impacting the coasts of Huelva or Cadiz during the next 50 years is 10%3% if we are talking about a 3-meter wave.
Tsunamis in Spain
Historically, only seven tsunamis have hit Spain since 365 A.D. However, the Mediterranean has experienced about 100 tsunamis since the beginning of the 20th century, which represents approximately 10% of the world total during this period. Notably, a magnitude 8.5 earthquake in 1755 caused a devastating tsunami that affected Portugal, Spain, Morocco and even reached the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Although a tsunami in the Mediterranean might not reach the catastrophic scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean or 2011 Japan tsunamis, experts stress that even smaller waves can be deadly. “We are not expecting 20-meter waves, as in Japan, Chile or Sumatra, but rather one or two meters,” explained Hélène Hébert, national coordinator of the French Tsunami Warning Center (CENALT).
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.