Mega-Tsunami<br /><br />In this scenario, a volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma triggers a massive landslide wherein a sizable portion of the island collapses into the sea, causing a massive mega-tsunami to race across the Atlantic Ocean and strike the east coast of the United States, inundating most of New York City, but leaving many buildings intact.<br /><br />'Mega tsunami would create waves 3 MILES HIGH' Deadliest natural disaster revealed<br />Regular tsunamis, such as the one that struck Japan's Fukushima power plant in 2011 killing thousands, happen from time to time.<br /><br />They are sparked by underwater earthquakes, which send a massive wall of water hurtling along towards the coast.<br /><br />And while they can be totally devastating, they are nothing in comparison to a mega tsunami.<br />One of the biggest of these to hit Earth was approximately 66 million years ago when dinosaurs were wiped out.<br /><br />Scientists believe the impact of an asteroid smashing into the planet sparked a wave approximately 3.1 miles high.<br /><br />But smaller-scale mega tsunamis have happened more recently and could easily happen again.<br /><br />RealLifeLore explains: "Unlike a regular tsunami that is created by an earthquake, a mega tsunami is usually created when a massive amount of material suddenly falls into water which displaces that water into a huge wave."<br /><br />In 1958, one occurred in the US state of Alaska when an earthquake caused 90 million tons of rock to come loose and sparked a 1,724 foot-high (525 metres) wave to crash over its remote Lituya Bay.<br /><br />The impact of it is said to have sent two fisherman and their boat to land on trees in a nearby forrest.<br />Another mega tsunami wave struck Japan in 1792 when part of Mount Unzen collapsed into the sea, killing 15,000 with 300-foot wave.<br /><br />But researchers have suggested there is the possibility another mega tsunami could batter Earth.<br /><br />Simon Day Simon Day, a senior researcher at University College London, caused controversy years ago when he said the Canary Islands' active volcano Cumbre Vieja erupted, it could cause a wave 3,000 feet tall.<br /><br />If this happened, the entire east coast of the United States would be obliterated.
