British TSUNAMI fears as killer UK waves ‘more common’ than scientists thought
Giant deadly waves in the northern North Atlantic are a greater risk to British life than anyone had previously imagined
DEADLY tsunamis crashing into Britain might seem far-fetched, but new research says it’s more common than experts previously thought.
Scientists believe three killer waves have hit the UK within the last 10,000 years – raising the possibility that another one may be due.
We already knew about one of these: around 8,200 years ago, the Storegga submarine landslide off the coast of Norway sparked a 20-metre high tsunami that swept across Shetland.
Now experts have discovered evidence of two additional tsunamis that took place even more recently.
Researchers from Dundee University and the British Geological Survey found sands on Shetland that prove two separate tsunamis hit Britain in fairly recent history.
“We found sands aged 5,000 and 1,500 years old at multiple locations in Shetland, up to 13m above sea level,” said Dr Sue Dawson, of the University of Dundee.
“These deposits have a similar sediment character as the Storegga event and can therefore be linked to tsunami inundation.”
Dr Dawson will now use hi-tech scanning methods to try and work out where the tsunami came from – and what caused it.
“We are now using a CT scanning machine at the University of Dundee to look at our samples in detail. For the first time, we’ll have a complete 3D view of the cores we’ve extracted from the ground and from lochs and seabeds,” she explained.
“This detail will show us which direction the wave was travelling in, identify the elements present in the sand and much more.
“This will be the first time that such a level of detail has been captured from these prehistoric tsunami events.”
The current theory is that the two newly discovered tsunamis were caused by an underwater landslide.
This would have shifted huge amounts of sediment across the seabed, displacing a large amount of water – resulting in a tsunami.
What causes tsunamis?
Here are the facts...
- Tsunami is a Japanese word used to describe huge waves – generally on oceans, but sometimes in lakes or large rivers
- Ocean tsunamis are caused by sudden motions, which displace a large amount of water
- This is typically an earthquake, but it could also be a volcanic eruption or underwater landslide
- A huge impact into water – like a large landslide or meteor – can also cause tsunamis
- When an earthquake happens, huge tectonic plates crunch together
- When the “snap” eventually happens, this gives a large shove to water
- This creates a tsunami that travels very quickly across the open oceans
- As the ocean becomes shallower, the tsunami wave is forced upwards
- This means tsunami waves typically grow very quickly in height (and slow down) as they approach the shallow shorelines near land
- Tsunamis are typically a series of waves, rather than one single wave
- As they approach land, these waves get closer together
- One of the best ways to spot an incoming tsunami is a sudden retreat of coastal water
- If the tide goes out very quickly, it’s a telling sign that something is wrong
- What you’re actually seeing is the trough of the incoming tsunami wave – on a huge scale
- The initial tsunami impact can be deadly
- But tsunami flooding is also highly dangerous to life, damaging buildings, destroying infrastructure, spreading waste and disease, and drowning people
Tsunamis are typically seen as a problem primarily for Asian countries, with places like Indonesia and Japan suffering heavily due to killer wave disasters.
And although a tsunami may not be imminent for Brits, there is still some cause for concern.
“They’re much higher frequency, and 1,500 years ago is very, very recent – it’s 500 AD if you want to think about it like that,” said Professor Dave Tappin, from the British Geological Survey, speaking to the .
“It means that the hazard – the risk – is far more serious than we thought previously.
“And so what we’re trying to do now is better define it.”
According to Dr Tappin, the risk of a northern North Atlantic tsunami is “not pie in the sky”.
“It is actually an event – and it’s not just maybe one in 10,000 [years],” he revealed.
“There could well be changes on the seabed, changes around the Greenland margin that may well increase the risk of future tsunamis to this part of the world.”
Proving the tsunamis exist is the easy part, but locating them is trickier.
Identifying landslides below the seabed is very difficult, with submarine rock-falls considered to be one of the most poorly understood natural hazards.
Killer tsunamis of the 21st century
Here are all the tsunamis we've seen since the year 2000...
- 2004 (Indian Ocean) – An oceanic earthquake of magnitude 9.3 triggered a series of tsunamis on boxing day, killing nearly 280,000 people. It’s one of the deadliest natural disasters in history, and the deadliest tsunami ever recorded. Its initial surge height measured 108 feet.
- 2006 (South of Java Island) – This tsunami was caused by a 7.7-magnitude Indian Ocean earthquake that hit beaches at a height of six feet. Over 800 people were reported missing or dead.
- 2006 (Kuril Islands) – An 8.3-magnitude earthquake generated a small tsunami that led to zero fatalities.
- 2007 (Soloman Islands) – A 36-foot tsunami was created by a magnitude 8.1 earthquake, killing 52 people.
- 2007 (Chile) – A large earthquakle led to major landslides that created six-metre-high waves. 10 people were reported dead or missing, and some infrastructure was damaged.
- 2007 (British Columbia) – A landslide entered Chehalis Lake, creating a large lake tsunami that destroyed campgrounds and vegetation.
- 2009 (Samoa) – An underwater earthquake measuring an 8.1-magnitude generated a 46-foot tsunami that killed 189 people.
- 2010 (Chile) – An 8.8-magnitude earthquake near Chile created a large off-shore tsunami. The earthquake was deadly, but the tsunami was not.
- 2010 (Sumatra) – A 7.7-magnitude earthquake created a tsunami that killed at least 408 people.
- 2011 (New Zealand) – A 6.3-magnitude earthquake shifted 30million tonnes of ice into Tasman Lake, generating 11-foot-high tsunami waves.
- 2011 (Japan) – A devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake created a 33-foot tsunami along Japan’s Pacific coast. The official death toll stands at 18,550.
- 2013 (Soloman Islands) – A tsunami measuring around 3-feet high was created by an 8.0-magnitude earthquake.
- 2014 (Iceland) – A large landslide generated a huge 100-foot tsunami that killed no one.
- 2015 (Chile) – A 16-foot earthquake in Chile creating a 16-foot tsunami.
- 2016 (New Zealand) – A large 7.8-magnitudfe earthquake generated a 2.5-metre tsunami that took no lives.
- 2017 (Greenland) – A large landslide fell 3,300 feet into Greenland’s Karrat fjord, creating a tsunami that killed four people. The tsunami initially had a height of 300-foot, but was lower when it hit the Nuugaatsiaq settlement.
Researchers will now use advanced modelling techniques to try to work out where Britain’s tsunamis came from.
“The younger tsunami sands on Shetland are located quite close together, so we thought the submarine landslide may have originated quite close to shore,” professor Tappin explained.
“BGS’s research vessel White Ribbon, which can work in the shallowest waters, was used to carry out seismic surveys of the seabad around Shetland, but we have not yet found conclusive proof of submarine landslides there.
“We plan to test some theoretical models to see if we can produce the 1,500 and 5,000 year tsunamis.
“We will be creating a digital elevation model of the coasts of the Shetlands and the surrounding seabed. We will then produce the landslide movement that will generate the tsunami. The numerical model will flood the land and we’ll look at the elevation of the sediments to see if they match with what’s on Shetland.
“That will take us much closer to finding where the actual tsunamis began.”
He added: “It is critical that we learn more.”
Just last month, scientists issued a separate warning about the risk of “devastating tsunamis” caused by climate change.
Research in Science Advances suggested that rising sea levels – caused by global warming – significantly increase the threat of giant killer waves.
Experts modelled the impact of tsunamis based on sea level increases, and discovered worrying results.
It found that rising sea levels allowed tsunamis to reach much further inland, significantly increasing the risk of floods.
This means small tsunamis that might not be deadly today could wreak havoc in the future.
“Our research shows that sea-level rise can significantly increase the tsunami hazard, which means that smaller tsunamis in the future can have the same adverse impacts as big tsunamis would today,” said Robert Weiss, a professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech.
Do you think Britain is prepared for a tsunami? Let us know in the comments!
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