Interesting story on new computer simulation generated about a massive, catastrophic flooding event in the eastern Mediterranean 8,000 years ago.
A volcano avalanche in Sicily 8,000 years ago triggered a devastating tsunami taller than a 10-story building that spread across the entire Mediterranean Sea, slamming into the shores of three continents in only a few hours. A new computer simulation of the ancient event reveals for the first time the enormity of the catastrophe and its far-reaching effects.
The Mt. Etna avalanche sent 6 cubic miles of rock and sediment tumbling into the water — enough material to cover the entire island of Manhattan in a layer of debris thicker than the Empire State Building is tall.The mountain of rubble crashed into the water at more than 200 mph. It pummeled the sea bed, transformed thick layers of soft marine sediment into jelly and triggered an underwater mudslide that flowed for hundreds of miles.
Their recreation suggests the tsunami’s waves reached heights of up to 130 feet and maximum speeds of up to 450 mph, making it more powerful than the Indonesian tsunami that killed more than 180,000 people in 2004.
It’s a bit early in history to have generated an Atlantis or Great Flood myth, but it would have been a worthwhile candidate for one.
Etna, of course, is still an active volcano …
(via Warren Ellis)