The Underappreciated Threat of Volcanic Tsunamis

Let’s have a look at the ways we know volcanoes can generate tsunamis, explosively or not:

During eruptions, volcanic tsunamis can be caused by underwater explosions and shock waves caused by large explosions – even ones that occur above the waterline. “Severe tsunami hazards exist on all coastlines that face both the open sea and large and relatively young volcanic islands,” Franziska Whelan and Dieter Kelletat state in their paper on mega-tsunamis. Next, we’ll explore regions at risk, determine the geologic factors that signal potential volcanic tsunami hazards, and then we’ll investigate what an effective Tsunami Early Warning System that includes volcanically-generated tsunamis might look like.

Source: blogs.scientificamerican.com