Could create a megatsunami 1,600 feet (500 m) high
Kilauea Volcano threatens entire Pacific Rim
By Dan Welch
It is unlikely that you know the full gravity of the situation regarding Kilauea.. This is likely to be the most active volcano in the world and if on dry land would be one of the world’s tallest mountains.
The current eruption began in 1983 and the resultant lava has created a huge shelf and bulge on the SE slope of Kilauea, and this is called the HILINA SLUMP.
In 2003 Stanford University predicted that if the Hilina slump was to slide to the bottom of the mountain it would create a “Mega Tsunami” of biblical proportions, and Stanford estimated the waves would be 100 feet high by the time they hit L.A.. 14 slides have been mapped out around the Hawaiian islands that have occurred much the same way. The Hilina Slump dropped 3.5 inches overnight in 2002, and would not have been detected if it were not for GPS.
It is estimated it would take 4 hours for the waves to hit Southern California. There will simply be no escape from the big cities unless you are a long distance runner. Most of the Pacific rim would be erased. So…..that is why earthquakes and inflations, even small ones, are a big deal when it comes to Kilauea.
It is shameful that there are no evacuation procedures in place for the larger cities on the Pacific Rim; it must be all about real estate prices, bank loans, and tax bases. Hmmm, the California guv lives in Sacramento…..
Some have equated Kilauea to the Seventh Seal in the Book of Revelations…”and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, a third of living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
I’m not sure where Mr Welch gets his information, but he sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.
According to the USGS, “In 1868 and 1975 this region moved abruptly several to tens of meters during major earthquakes (M7.9 and M7.2, respectively) with attendant destructive tsunamis. The tsunami generated in both 1868 and 1975 resulted in extensive damage and fatalities on Hawaii, and the 1975 tsunami produced minor damage in California. The possibility exists that future detachments of this type, or far more extensive and catastrophic debris avalanches, will occur in the future.”
http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/2006/171/data/cruise-reports/2001/html/24.htm
And according to Wikipedia, The Hilina Slump is a 5,000 cubic mile (20,000 km³) chunk of the big island of Hawaii on the south flank of the Kilauea volcano. Between 1990 and 1993, GPS measurements showed a southward displacement up to approximately 10 cm per year.[1] The slump has the potential of breaking away at a faster pace in the form of an underwater landslide. If the entire Hilina Slump did slide into the ocean at once, it could cause an earthquake in excess of a 9 in magnitude and a megatsunami. Previous megatsunamis in Hawaii 110,000 years ago caused by similar geological phenomena created waves 1,600 feet (500 m) tall.[2] Were such a megatsunami to occur again, it would threaten the entire Pacific Rim.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilina_Slump
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