More on Using Ancient Tsunamis to Predict Future Ones
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
 
Keywords: tsunami, geophysics simulation, earthquake, fault, subduction zone Ancient tsunamis and earthquakes are all the rage in archaeology and geophysics, as evidenced here, here, and here... oh, and here, here, and here too. In this study, researchers reexamined a tsunami described by a Roman historian in 365 CE. It is generally believed that this tsunami was triggered by an intense earthquake off the west coast of Crete. These researchers propose, however, that the subduction zone -- where one tectonic plate slides beneath another and sinks into the mantle -- between Greece and Turkey was at fault... Okay, that is a really bad pun... Sorry! They found a previously unknown fault, which, according to them, triggered a 8.3- to 8.5-magnitude earthquake that caused deaths throughout the Mediterranean. These researchers warn that, while this particular fault will likely remain stable for five millennia, the larger subduction zone may produce a tsunami-inducing quake within the next 800 years. Watch for tsunami warning signs on your favorite beach in Turkey! Above: One of the new UNESCO tsunami warning signs for vulnerable areas. Credit: Photographer unknown. Excerpts from Yahoo/AFP: Tsunami That Devastated Ancient World Could Return By Von Richard Ingham "The sea was driven back, and its waters flowed away to such an extent that the deep sea bed was laid bare and many kinds of sea creatures could be seen," wrote Roman historian Ammianus Marcellus, awed at a tsunami that struck the then-thriving port of Alexandria in 365 AD. . . Ancient documents show the great waves of July 21, 365 AD claimed lives from Greece, Sicily and Alexandria in Egypt to modern-day Dubrovnik in the Adriatic. . . The tsunami was generated by a massive quake that occurred under the western tip of the Greek island of Crete, experts believe. Until now, the main thinking has been that this quake -- as in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004 -- occurred in a so-called subduction zone. A subduction zone is where two of the Earth's plates meet. One plate rides over another plate which is gliding downward at an angle into the planet's mantle. . . The 365 AD quake occurred at a point on the 500-kilometre (300-mile) -long Hellenic subduction zone, which snakes along the Mediterranean floor in a semi-circle from southwestern Turkey to western Greece. Researchers in Britain have taken a fresh look at this event and have come up with some worrying news. . . They conclude the slippage occurred along 100 kilometres (about 60 miles) on a previously unidentified fault that lies close to the surface, just above the subduction zone. . . After the 365 AD quake, the fault is likely to remain quiet for around 5,000 years. But if the tectonic structure along the rest of the Hellenic subduction zone is similar, a tsunami-generating quake could strike the eastern Mediterranean in roughly 800 years, the scientists estimate. . . To read the rest of the article, visit the Yahoo! News website: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080309/sc_afp/sciencequakemediterraneantsunami_08030918290734B1B7A9-1B16-4809-B81B-3BEF0E821A96.html810B38C9-152D-4496-A668-5EA1775C0FA1.html63B2415D-10D1-4040-B749-F97E76FB3657.htmlA1616153-A0CC-4A67-A2E9-0A74BF011D6F.htmlFA4CEDF2-E1BF-46B2-9D20-39B815B9D076.htmlBlog.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080309/sc_afp/sciencequakemediterraneantsunami_080309182907shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6
 
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