A lot of people know that New York City sits on fault lines (and
that the Indian Point Nuclear Power plant is above the
intersection of two active seismic zones), all of which makes it
entirely possible that the city could suffer a catastrophic
earthquake. But I thought at least I and my fellow citizens
didn't have to worry about tsunamis. Turns out that might be
wrong, according to Viable Opposition. Viable Opposition is a
geoscientist, and he either remembered or dug up this paper
(pdf) by Steven N. Ward and Simon Day, published in Geophysical
Research Letters in 2001. It describes how the Cumbre Vieja
volcano in the Canary Islands might lose its western flank in an
eruption, dropping an immense amount of material down to the sea
floor and sending a tsunami across the entire Atlantic. Their
worst-case scenario is wave heights in Florida of 80 or so feet;
somewhat earlier, Newfoundland would get a still very noticeable
30-foot tidal wave. They don't mention New York City. That's
fine by this resident; I don'