Scientists have long known that BC will be struck by an incredibly powerful earthquake followed by a mammoth, deadly tsunami; however, they don’t know when.
When it does take place, however, the effects will be devastating. When the “big one” hits, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake will precede a tsunami with waves up to 20 meters high. Moreover, thousands, if not millions, of people will die.
With that being said, there’s no way to pinpoint when this catastrophic event will take place. Seismic activity provides provides clues as to the likelihood of when a big earthquake would take place, but not a concrete date.
Now, researchers say that other tsunamis could pose threats to BC in the near future.
Tsunamis and Climate Change
“Scientists say huge, landslide-triggered tsunamis are becoming more frequent — and could pose an increasing hazard in places like Western Canada — as climate change melts the glaciers that hold mountainsides in place, both on the coast and far inland,” reports CBC.
While tsunamis are often created by an earthquake, any major force may create one. As such, a landslide that forces debris to strike the water may create a massive wave. In fact, a massive landslide in Alaska crashed into a fjord and created a 150 metre tsunami.
It was, “triple the height of the tallest earthquake-triggered tsunamis that devastated Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand in 2004 and nearly four times taller than the one that caused widespread destruction in Japan in 2011, badly damaging the Fukushima nuclear plant.”
As a result, glaciers that are melting in BC pose a series threat for the future. What’s more, climate change is exacerbating the problem, meaning that these events could happen sooner and at greater frequency.
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