Ancient tsunamis destroyed three continents

A study and simulation by Italian scientists showed that a series of volcanoes in Sicily thousands of years ago caused a massive tsunami, covering the Mediterranean and devastating the coast of three continents within at least 4 hours.

In a study named " Lost Tsunami ", published in the current issue of Geophysical Research Letters, Maria Teresa Pareschi and colleagues at the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanic Science The hypothesis that tsunamis may have mysteriously vanished a village of the " Neolithic period " (corresponding to Israel's current coastline location).

Volcanoes in Sicily (Photo: NASA)

Pareschi modeled the collapse of the eastern slopes of Mount Etna nearly 8,000 years ago, and outlined a prospect of 6 miles of rock breaking into water at a speed of 224 miles per hour. According to the simulation, the waves shot horribly high near the land and went as far as the coasts of Southern Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor.

'It is difficult to find evidence on the coast about such a catastrophic event because immediately after that the sea level rose about 10m. But we found a rich evidence on the bottom of the Ionian Sea and the Sirte deep plains in Africa , 'Pareschi said.

Indeed, the simulation showed that the pressure from the ancient tsunami liquefied the thick strata of soft marine sediments across the Ionian seabed and triggered an underwater mudslide.

Europe's leading expert on volcanic tsunamis, geophysicist Stefano Tinti from the University of Bologna, described Maria Teresa Pareschi's research and colleagues at the Institute of Geophysics and Italy's National Volcanic Department is interesting and credible, and says that this ancient event contains lessons for today's dangers.

"Although there is absolutely no risk of a similar collapse as described by Pareschi, however, we should not forget the danger from volcanic islands. So the wave warning system The spirit and regular monitoring throughout the Mediterranean are very important, " Tinto said on Discovery News's website.

Pareschi modeled the collapse of the eastern slopes of the mountain
Etna nearly 8,000 years ago (Photo: Discovery.com)

Thien Kha