Scilly’s MP has raised concerns about the potential threat of a giant wave crashing into the Isles of Scilly.
A predicted giant eruption could take place at any time on the island of La Palma in the Canaries and large waves are expected as an after affect.
Research which was publicised last week by Professor Bill McGuire (Director of the Benfield Grieg Hazard Research Centre at the University College London) has suggested that such a natural but rare disaster could result in a chunk of an island roughly the size of the Isle of Man breaking off the volcanic island of La Palma and unleashing giant waves which would wreak havoc around the globe within hours.
Even though Mr George accepts that the threat of imminent disaster is ?vanishingly small? at present, he has written to the Minister responsible for coastal defence - Elliot Morley MP - to point out that Professor McGuire is concerned that there is insufficient effort being made to assess seismic movements in that area and therefore given emergency planners the desired forewarning of an imminent and substantial coastal threat.
Computer models of the island’s collapse show that the first regions to be hit with waves topping 100 metres (330 ft) will be the neighbouring Canary Islands, but with 4 to 5 hours waves of around 10 metres are likely to strike the British Isles. IT
The threat was announced in 2000 on a BBC Horizon programme. I spoke to a geophysics lecturer at the Southampton Oceanography Centre, who was skeptical that such a catastrophic event would actually happen. He explained that the main thing you need to know about the person responsible for the Horizon programme is that he works for insurance companies. SD