00:00A Canary Islands volcano collapse could send 20-meter waves to Florida, one worst-case model
00:05shows. In that model, the waves arrive roughly nine hours after the collapse. The volcano is
00:11Cumbre Vieja on the island of La Palma. Part of its western flank broke loose in 1949. Since then,
00:18the flank has crept seaward by about one to two centimeters a year. Other estimates put waves on
00:23the U.S. east coast at about half that height. Volcanic tsunami waves travel faster and arrive
00:29closer together than earthquake tsunamis. Giant collapses with waves of 100 meters or more
00:35happen about every 10,000 years. Satellite and ground monitoring can usually give at least a
00:40few weeks' notice. Yet most of the hundreds of active island and coastal volcanoes are not monitored.
00:46No one can predict when Cumbre Vieja might collapse. Disclosure. This video contains stock footage
00:52and content created or enhanced using AI-assisted tools.
