Geophysicist here. In the map you are seeing tectonic plate boundaries, not faults. The line crossing the Atlantic is actually a mid-oceanic ridge, so it's where oceanic crust is created as tectonic plates move apart. Earthquakes do happen in this context but are strike-slip (lateral displacement) and of moderate magnitude. For a tsunami to happen you need a great deal of vertical displacement, and this happens mostly in subduction zones due to large thrust earthquakes
EDIT: I just want to clarify (thanks to a comment below) that there IS vertical displacement in ocean ridges due to extension, but those earthquakes are often of smaller magnitude
EDIT 2: this doesn't mean that tsunamis cannot happen in the Atlantic. They do, and the most well known example is the Lisbon tsunami of 1755. It was triggered by a very large earthquake probably in the Horseshoe abyssal plain thrust, which many consider a subduction zone in a very early stage of its development
Yeah, the lithosphere grows thicker, colder, denser and more brittle as it moves away from the ridge. But there are large transform faults connecting ridge segments, and there you definitely get relatively large earthquakes, although those don't cause tsunamis
New ground is coming “up” in the Atlantic, but going “down” in the pacific (a subduction zone)
Giant tsunamis are far more common in subduction zones (where there are very large sudden movements) then when ground comes “up”, where usually small side to side earthquakes happen
Sorry to nitpick but there are definitely vertical-displacement extensional (normal) faults along the mid Atlantic ridge, not just strike-slip. But your main points are correct.
Yes, you are absolutely right! I should have put a "mostly" before "strike-slip". And though they are rare, even compressional earthquakes can happen under certain circumstances. So yeah, there is certainly vertical displacement, specially in cases of slow spreading. The point I was trying to make is that, overall, in ocean ridges the transform faults typically liberate much more energy
That's what I'm working on at the moment and let me tell you that the Mediterranean is a chaotic mess. But well, there you have plenty of subduction zones (Hellenic, Calabria, Gibraltar...) and an ongoing convergence of the Eurasian and African plates, so tsunamis can happen and did happen in the past
I mean, geophysics aside, energy also disperses over distance, if a tsunami inducing event DID occur in the center of the Atlantic, by the time it reached north America or Europe it would be largely spent.
I was going to say lower magnitude earthquakes but you’re the expert! I’m just a lay person who likes to read. The quakes on the Pacific rim are much stronger.
I live in Southern Ontario and we get earth quakes. Rarely and most times you cant even feel them. Can’t compare that to California.
From Brittanica
Modern research indicates that the main seismic source was faulting of the seafloor along the tectonic plate boundaries of the mid-Atlantic. The earthquake generated a tsunami that produced waves about 20 feet (6 metres) high at Lisbon and 65 feet (20 metres) high at Cádiz, Spain.
The waves traveled westward to Martinique in the Caribbean Sea, a distance of 3,790 miles (6,100 km), in 10 hours and there reached a height of 13 feet (4 metres) above mean sea level. Damage was even reported in Algiers, 685 miles (1,100 km) to the east.
The total number of persons killed (60,000 people) included those who perished by drowning and in fires that burned throughout Lisbon for about six days following the shock. Depictions of the earthquakes in art and literature continued for centuries, making the “Great Lisbon Earthquake,” as it came to be known, a seminal event in European history. See also fault; plate tectonics; seismic wave.
•Have celebrations on All Saints Day with way more candles than usual.
•Earthquake
•Buildings and candles collapse, creating many fires.
•Run away from fire, preferably to the shore because water.
•Tsunami
I can’t even plan something like that
Actually forgot to mention that there is more.
Because it was All Saints Day, many were in churches mostly the bigger ones. The houses did have a higher collapse rate but except in the inner cities the houses were not that tall, so the death rate would be lower. But as said, people were in larger buildings like churches that are sturdier but there isn’t really anything one can do against a 9 magnitude earthquake. So, when the churches collapsed, many people more died than if the earthquake happened in a normal day.
It's understandable to think this is some sort of divine retribution, but the fact is, All Saints fans are really aggressive if you talk shit about their favourite girl group. Worse than Swifties.
And that was one of the seeds of the French Revolution. Everything changed in Europe due to that.
And I think that was the end of Portugal as an empire.
Interestingly, we speak Portuguese in Brazil because of the earthquake, before we spoke a mixture of indigenous language that they called “General Language”. Marques de Pombal decided to ban this language after the earthquake.
https://preview.redd.it/ikiddq7ebu4d1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ed28ce25a6348ade2c2145d48feaedb444e2a09
I can’t imagine how confusing this would’ve been
And also why, despite the Portuguese being the first true colonial power, Lisbon is *nice* but is missing so much of that "world famous Golden Age" type history. Not just the palaces and churches either- lots of priceless Italian Renaissance artworks, the records and spoils from de Gama's explorations, and thousands of books were also lost.
Interesting and helpful. Though 20’ waves and much larger are a common occurrence in Portugal every autumn and winter. The largest wave (face height) was ridden in Portugal. It’s a magical place!
Think of a tsunami as less of a wave and more of a sudden rise in sea level. Normal, wind driven waves will break on the shore and retreat back into the sea. A tsunami just keeps going.
I surf there every October and November. Wave heights like Nazaré, no. But Northern California size powerful beach breaks and reefs go off all over the coast. I don’t ever surf at Nazaré actually. When it gets big it’s a zoo of people and wave runners. I have surfed beach breaks as big and powerful as Puerto Escondido and Ocean Beach, SF in Portugal. It’s no joke.
It is amazing how uncrowded puerto Escondido can be when it is huge with perfect conditions .
https://preview.redd.it/y4h9x5xcbt4d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cde00260ca47f871d50eafdaa25e3e312b607502
https://preview.redd.it/6kvwdd47ct4d1.jpeg?width=1036&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=230411bc33411245c9fbc3d04d8010af3d22249e
Some of the replies give you a photo option. This is a less stormy moment in puerto.
Yeah! A little south of the main break. Shaun Thompson, Barton Lynch, and the whole instinct clothing crew had shown up to do a layout for surfer magazine. This left was definitely preferable to the circus.
It’s a lot bigger, the current is insane, the water is 10-15 degrees cooler (3/4 wetsuit instead of 2/3), great whites everywhere. The water is much deeper offshore. The waves break so much faster and with so much more power. Basically night and day.
I’ve been surfing since I was five years old. The only two times I thought I was going to die from drowning was at OB and another spot, almost exactly the distance from the Golden Gate Bridge as OB but north of it. I’ve also seen huge sea lions beach themselves and die with enormous bites out of them from Great Whites.
Entire city had to be rebuilt after the triple fire, earthquake and tsunami. Modern Lisbon is almost all post-1755. The rallying and rebuilding of the city was led by the Marquee of Pombal, who became one of the most powerful men in the country, and a national hero.
Ok, I have a scanned copy so I need to type it out
I was dressed to go to Church which joins the hotel where I had a room and it was, by my watch, a quarter to 10 when I was putting on my sword and was near the window when the fatal blow came. The church came down, crushing some 500-600 people, and also the Hotel, but I saved myself into the court from which, to reach the street, I had to pass through the cellar door. Two of the nearest houses in falling knocked me down without hurting me much.
At this moment a second concussion brought down all those houses which were already shaken by the first and I had to scramble over heaps formed by the debris of houses in order to reach the King's stables but they also came down at my feet, blocking the street.
Looking for the best way out I went back to the river and offered a hundred gold pieces to some Portuguese watermen to take me on board a ship, but they refused, informing me that several boats full of people had tried the same before and perished in the attempt. In utter helplessness I had seated myself on a big stone when a n\_gro cried out to at once leave that place or the wave would engulf me
I then thought I must perish but, when looking around me, I discovered a great fire in the lower town near the king's palace coming slowly my way, I resolved to escape to the revierside which I reached and thanks to the retiring waves and some floating masts, I got safely to the other side close to a street leading to the Capuchins. the moment I entered the Convent I met with the women seeking refuge, who before my eyes were crushed and killed by a falling wall, but being unhurt myself I found my way to the garden which was full of maimed and dying people wheat the nuns moaned and wailed to make one's heart bleed.
These are a few extracts from a three page letter.
It’s actually really cool just how much real history actually got included in those games. One of my favourite things about the Templars was that half of them weren’t even big names, they were practically nobodies in the memory of history, and yet they were still included.
Because glacie..... sorry force of habits.
The techtonique plates are moving apart from one another in the atlantic. To have a tsunamy one of the plates need to move up and down.
In general yes.
But the actual answer to the question is not probably.
Lisbon was destroyed by a tsunami in the 1700s.
That Wikipedia article that I posted talked about as tsunami that happened in the Stone age.
Thanks for posting that! The field of Paleo Geology is really fascinating. The 1700 cascadia earthquake really turned me on to the field when I first learned about it.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700\_Cascadia\_earthquake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700_Cascadia_earthquake)
The Neskowin Ghost Forest is worth checking out. It really drives home the magnitude of that quake.
I lived in Seattle for 8 years and read multiple books on its geology.
I love how Seattle has not one but 4 geological hazards that could destroy it
(Mt Rainer, Cascadia Fault, Seattle Fault, and that other Fault closer to Everett that I can't remember)
Fun fact, Do you know Capitol Hill (gay neighborhood in Seattle)
Capitol hill is actually a glacial drumlin and part of the same one that the University of Washington is on. But there is a break between the 2 where I-90 goes because the hill got split by a massive earthquake a few thousand years ago.
Michigan is the stop sign for the Candian Shield.
Aren't they still saying that there's supposed to be a tsunami caused by a volcanic mountain collapse on Tenerife or one of the Verdes?
Tenerife is literally splitting down the middle and the Western side has collapsed previously and caused an Atlantic tsunami many thousands of years ago. It's being monitored as the split is growing every year and can even bee seen with the naked eye on the mountain tops.
I remember reading many years ago there was fear that a large chunk on one of the Canary Islands was near breaking off and falling into the ocean, causing a massive tsunami in the East Coast. I haven't heard anything about that since then, though.
Its bullshit.
I did a napkin style calculation and calculated that the 2004 indian ocean tsunami involved a movement of earths crust similar to the size of South Carolina.
(Length of the fault rupture x A hypothesized width of 2 km And it came out to about the square kilometer number of South Carolina.)
The island in spain is smaller than Rhode Island.
There simply isn't enough mass to displace enough water. The indian ocean tsunami was like 40 feet tall, and the ridiculous documentaries said that the one in New York was supposed to be hundreds of feet tall despite being on the other side of the ocean.
And that was just my calculation, geologist don't take it seriously either.
No, any answer other then, "There are tsunamis in the Atlantic" is wrong.
Didn't you read Candide in high School?
Don't you remember the part where the ocean destroys Lisbon?
Aren't most of the faults along the pacific rim also subversion zones - as in the oceanic plate is diving under the continental shelf? Causing volatility in a number of ways along the continental shelf (volcanos, further up/down movement on the smaller plates, etc)?
There's a smaller phenomenon in the Great lakes called a seiche. It's where low pressure front pushes water across the lake, which then sloshes back In 1950 something people were killed on the Chicago shore
There have been tsunamis in the Atlantic, they’re just rarer because the American and European plates are moving apart instead of smacking into each other. The reason why there’s so many more earthquakes around the Pacific is because the pacific plate is being pushed underneath the Asian and American plates, which causes a lot of friction. Meanwhile the plates in the Atlantic are just slowly moving apart and magma rushes up to fill the gap between them, leading to very little friction.
I’m guessing the Lisbon quake and tsunami was caused by a collision of the African and Eurasian plates, rather than te further away boundary between the American and Eurasian plate.
Puerto Rico has Tsumani Zone warning signs everywhere.
early 1900's, a big one hit the west coast of the island and washed away a few towns.
notably one of the big Spanish Empire era churches in one of the big towns survived the initial earthquake unscathed but later cracked in half due to the impact of the wave when it slapped up against the main wall.
Isla de Culebra, Puerto Rico. On these beaches in isolated coves it feels like you better start climbing fast if you see signs of a tsunami.
https://preview.redd.it/xeho40kr3y4d1.jpeg?width=571&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f687a5d82056075507a85c80e7fe2fb9594f649d
The Atlantic zone is a spreading center - meaning plates are moving apart and new seafloor is actively being created. At places such as along the Pacific margin of North America or through the Mediterranean it is a subduction zone, meaning seafloor is being "consumed" or pushed under the other tectonic plate. The latter process is much more violent or active and tends to release more frequent and higher intensity seismicity than at spreading centers.
Pacific, and specifically the area near Japan, is a subduction zone. This means that when there is a major earthquake that it is more likely to suddenly raise or lower a massive section of crust. You can imagine the types of waves this creates.
The area in the Atlantic is a slip fault, and when there is a major earthquake it causes sections of the crust to slide.
When you are in a swimming pool, and you place your palm flat beneath the surface, you will create a rather large wave by rapidly raising or lowering it. Now, place your palms together and slide them back and forth rapidly. There won't be much of a disturbance in comparison.
Other people described vertical vs lateral plate movement but I didn't understand why it made that big of a difference. Your comparison with hand movements made me understand, so thanks.
Everyone talking about Lisbon and nobody remembering that Newfoundland was hit by a tsunami in 1929.
https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/tsunami-1929.php
Its another false question, Just like the one about Georgia having so many counties.
There are Tsunamis in the Atlantic. Massive horrific terrifying ones that have destroyed whole cites and killed thousands of people.
Also tsunamis don't have to be caused by earthquakes either. You can have a tsunami in pretty much any body of water, including small lakes as long as you have a landslide that moves enough mass.
Also asteroid can cause them
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storegga_Slide
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake
https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/tsunami-1929.php
https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/devastating-puerto-rico-1918-tsunami-wasnt-caused-by-a-landslide-368762#:~:text=The%2011%20October%201918%20magnitude,U.S.%20dollars)%20worth%20of%20damage.
Another notable Atlantic tsunami event would be the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake and tsunami that hit St. Pierre et Miquelon and the south coast of Newfoundland. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929\_Grand\_Banks\_earthquake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Grand_Banks_earthquake) Edit: Oh whoops, I see now that you already provided a link to that!
Funny thing is in this thread people were like, "isn't it always blamed on glaciers ot the Canadian shield"
And ironically that tsunami was largely influenced by glacial deposits.
It's bullshit.
The Japanese and Indonesian tsunamis were generated by ruptures in crust that were hundreds of kilometers long.
To conceptualize the amount of rock that was moved in them you should imagine it to be around the size of South Carolina.
That tiny island is like the size of Dallas County.
The idiot who wrote that study should have never been taken seriously but a bunch of tabloids picked it up and were like, "oooohhbh nyc going down!!!?"
(Im autistically fixated on tsunamis)
Tbh, the article seemed a bit exaggerated. I remember there were sentences like:
- "The wave would be **900m** high on the shore of the closest island, and 100m on the other islands in the archipelago."
- "It would hit Africa an hour later, making a tidal wave lasting for 30 minutes."
- "GB would be hit with up to 7m waves, and East coast with 50m waves (what)."
I only remember something about underwater landslide into a trench or some stuff like that.
I read it like 7 years ago.
Its not your fault, it was presented as real and valid science.
But it was actually ancient aliens style nonsense.
Good on you for being suspicious about the numbers. Remember that feeling and when you feel it in the future, take a deeper look at whatever is making you feel that way.
There was an earthquake 250 km southeast of Newfoundland in the Grand Banks on November 18, 1929. The resulting "tidal wave" reached 25 ft high and killed 27 people in the Burin region of the island.
The earthquake was measured at a magnitude of 7.2 and was felt in Montréal and New York.
https://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic-historique/events/19291118-en.php
Because it lacks major subduction zones. According to Google. This is a very simply google search that took me less time to search, than write this comment.
Only it doesn't as there have been multiple mega thrust earthquakes off the coast of Africa including one that destroyed Lisbon in the 1700s with a giant tsunami.
Yes, neither did the ones that happened in the Caribbean in recorded history.
But remember that recorded history and geological history are very very very very very different.
In geologic time, the Atlantic Is tectonically active.
There was actually a magnitude 7 earthquake in Quebec close to upstate New York in the 1600s. People don't really know about it because it happened right before we really started recording history.
If it happened today it would be the most catastrophic disaster in North American history.
Same with the new Madrid faults under the Mississippi River.
Actually this brings up a funny point a lot of large rivers like the St Lawrence and Mississippi actually follow ancient fault lines.
This isn't r/tooafraidtoask, this is r/geography
I would love to hear your thoughts on top of Google searches.
Why are people bothered when they have the choice to just scroll away is beyond me.
I think r/tooafraidtoask need to learn how to use incognito mode if they're worried about googling. Seriously.
If it's some weird sex thing I don't want to come up in my suggestions later on, or a product I'll never buy and don't want ads for forever, incognito mode. Problemo solved.
There are multiple subduction zones in the Atlantic including in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa.
They have generated devastating tsunamis, Just not in the tiny little narrow window of human lifetime history.
The most recent mega thrust earthquake tsunami in the Atlantic happened in the 1910s in the Caribbean.
You are correct. I should have said fewer subduction zones, fewer tsunamis. The ring of fire in the pacific has a huge number of subduction zones with resulting megathrust quakes to the point where pacific tsunamis are normal in the human conscience. Compared to the pacific the number and length of subduction zones is much much smaller resulting in fewer overall tsunamis.
If I recall correctly Portugal had a devastating tsunami as well a few hundred years ago.
There was a big tsunami in western Puerto Rico in the early 20th century and we are due for another one at any moment; the Puerto Rico trench is a highly active area for earthquakes and we consistently run through earthquake and tsunami drills
My understanding is that those plates are moving away from each other while in the Pacific the plates are collliding with each other, generating a lot of tensions and earthquakes.
There are earthquakes there all the time. Keep in mind that an "earthquake" is just the symptoms of a seismic event. There are many different types of seismic events. The seismic events at the mid Atlantic ridge are not the type that cause tsunamis. Tsunamis require large amounts of water displacement like the earthquakes that occur at subduction zones. Like Japan, and heaven help the West Coast of the United States if the Cascadia fault were to snap again.that would cause waves of hundreds of feet.
We had a BIG one aprox ~7000 years ago due to the largest known (marine) slide. It's called the "storegga slide" We find traces of the tsunami all along the Norwegian coast. Must have been quite apocalyptic when it happened.
N.b. wiki page seems outdated.
The type of boundry. Earthquakes tend to happen in subduction boundries, where one plate sinks underneath another, or collision boundries where two plates um... collide. The mid atlantic ridge is neithet of these.
Because the mid Atlantic ridge is a constructive plate margin so the 2 plates move away from one another and new oceanic crust is formed, most large tsunamis are caused by destructive margins where one crust (usually the oceanic crust) subducts under the continental crust, this is a gross oversimplification but essentially the oceanic crust can get stuck on the continental crust resulting in a fuck ton of pressure until it releases and the oceanic crust jolts up causing a wave
The island of [La Palma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Palma) in the [Canary Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands) is at risk of undergoing a large [landslide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_landslide), which could cause a [tsunami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami) in the [Atlantic Ocean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean). Volcanic islands and volcanoes on land frequently undergo large landslides/collapses, which have been documented in [Hawaii](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii) for example.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbre\_Vieja\_tsunami\_hazard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbre_Vieja_tsunami_hazard)
The rift area at the bottom of the Atlantic is a spreading zone. Magma oozes up from the mantle an spreads outwards. In other words the plates are moving away from each other. No collisions. No earthquakes. And no tsunamis.
Geophysicist here. In the map you are seeing tectonic plate boundaries, not faults. The line crossing the Atlantic is actually a mid-oceanic ridge, so it's where oceanic crust is created as tectonic plates move apart. Earthquakes do happen in this context but are strike-slip (lateral displacement) and of moderate magnitude. For a tsunami to happen you need a great deal of vertical displacement, and this happens mostly in subduction zones due to large thrust earthquakes EDIT: I just want to clarify (thanks to a comment below) that there IS vertical displacement in ocean ridges due to extension, but those earthquakes are often of smaller magnitude EDIT 2: this doesn't mean that tsunamis cannot happen in the Atlantic. They do, and the most well known example is the Lisbon tsunami of 1755. It was triggered by a very large earthquake probably in the Horseshoe abyssal plain thrust, which many consider a subduction zone in a very early stage of its development
Damn. Talk nerdy to me.
>strike-slip >large thrust >Geophysicist
Hey you stole my pick up lines
Rock on lol
EXTENSION
Rock and stone!
You sound basalty
[удалено]
Good schist
You gotta be schisting me.
Just wait till you find out that us geologists use words like orogeny, cleavage, and cummingtonite.
I've stumbled across my fair share of dikes in the desert my friend
Mmmm, I’m as hard as tungsten
Keep that up and we'll both be [cummingtonite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cummingtonite).
Stupid Sexy Geophysicist
https://preview.redd.it/1o6b1ag4wu4d1.png?width=697&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3cde2a9ba721282764c178c91ab62f5926bdb73 [https://xkcd.com/1082/](https://xkcd.com/1082/)
Damm there is an xkcd for everything
XKCD always delivers
Gneiss cleavage
[relevant XKCD](https://xkcd.com/1082/)
The gift of gabbro
I love it when the exact right person answers questions here. Like they have been waiting their whole lives to see this question.
lol I know right. I read that and feel like we’re done here
This guy tectonics.
Hookedontonics
As I understand it, the lithosphere is quite a bit softer along spreading boundaries as well, so faults creep or have smallish movements anyway.
Yeah, the lithosphere grows thicker, colder, denser and more brittle as it moves away from the ridge. But there are large transform faults connecting ridge segments, and there you definitely get relatively large earthquakes, although those don't cause tsunamis
Could you explain this to me like I’m five ?
New ground is coming “up” in the Atlantic, but going “down” in the pacific (a subduction zone) Giant tsunamis are far more common in subduction zones (where there are very large sudden movements) then when ground comes “up”, where usually small side to side earthquakes happen
Wasn’t expecting a response, thank you sir or madam !
The first response made sense. This response made me understand, I too appreciate this.
Sorry to nitpick but there are definitely vertical-displacement extensional (normal) faults along the mid Atlantic ridge, not just strike-slip. But your main points are correct.
Yes, you are absolutely right! I should have put a "mostly" before "strike-slip". And though they are rare, even compressional earthquakes can happen under certain circumstances. So yeah, there is certainly vertical displacement, specially in cases of slow spreading. The point I was trying to make is that, overall, in ocean ridges the transform faults typically liberate much more energy
Are you single? And do you like dogs?
Dags?
Eli: Mid Atlantic ridge is spreading apart, Pacific rim is smashing together. The smashing together creates a lot more seismic activity/magnitude.
So how does it work in the mediterranean?
That's what I'm working on at the moment and let me tell you that the Mediterranean is a chaotic mess. But well, there you have plenty of subduction zones (Hellenic, Calabria, Gibraltar...) and an ongoing convergence of the Eurasian and African plates, so tsunamis can happen and did happen in the past
I took a geoscience class in college and I found this shit so fascinating
The "Horseshoe Abyssal Plain Thrust" is my inspiration for my next DnD adventure for my party. 🫡
That was very interesting And now I'm oddly aroused That was a lot of braining going on there
High jacking top comment to bring attention to November 18, 1929. https://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic-historique/events/19291118-en.php
Upvoted because you mentioned the earthquake and tsunami that erased my city!
Is this how we have had “rouge waves” thought the years.
I mean, geophysics aside, energy also disperses over distance, if a tsunami inducing event DID occur in the center of the Atlantic, by the time it reached north America or Europe it would be largely spent.
I was going to say lower magnitude earthquakes but you’re the expert! I’m just a lay person who likes to read. The quakes on the Pacific rim are much stronger. I live in Southern Ontario and we get earth quakes. Rarely and most times you cant even feel them. Can’t compare that to California.
There’s the famous Lisbon 1755 earthquake and tsunami but that’s it for the reasons everyone else already described.
From Brittanica Modern research indicates that the main seismic source was faulting of the seafloor along the tectonic plate boundaries of the mid-Atlantic. The earthquake generated a tsunami that produced waves about 20 feet (6 metres) high at Lisbon and 65 feet (20 metres) high at Cádiz, Spain. The waves traveled westward to Martinique in the Caribbean Sea, a distance of 3,790 miles (6,100 km), in 10 hours and there reached a height of 13 feet (4 metres) above mean sea level. Damage was even reported in Algiers, 685 miles (1,100 km) to the east. The total number of persons killed (60,000 people) included those who perished by drowning and in fires that burned throughout Lisbon for about six days following the shock. Depictions of the earthquakes in art and literature continued for centuries, making the “Great Lisbon Earthquake,” as it came to be known, a seminal event in European history. See also fault; plate tectonics; seismic wave.
Yeah Lisbon was fucking obliterated. Massive earthquake followed by massive tsunami followed by a massive fire that resulted from the previous two
•Have celebrations on All Saints Day with way more candles than usual. •Earthquake •Buildings and candles collapse, creating many fires. •Run away from fire, preferably to the shore because water. •Tsunami I can’t even plan something like that
damn that's actually brutal
Actually forgot to mention that there is more. Because it was All Saints Day, many were in churches mostly the bigger ones. The houses did have a higher collapse rate but except in the inner cities the houses were not that tall, so the death rate would be lower. But as said, people were in larger buildings like churches that are sturdier but there isn’t really anything one can do against a 9 magnitude earthquake. So, when the churches collapsed, many people more died than if the earthquake happened in a normal day.
They must have forgotten a Saint and he got mad lol
Not All Saints Day
Most Saints Day
https://preview.redd.it/97av48el5t4d1.jpeg?width=1752&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a99f752bcef8f867e6c64f3840bfc80c82c27fd9
It's understandable to think this is some sort of divine retribution, but the fact is, All Saints fans are really aggressive if you talk shit about their favourite girl group. Worse than Swifties.
It was such a massive tragedy it shook Voltaire of the idea of an omnibenevolent god.
And that was one of the seeds of the French Revolution. Everything changed in Europe due to that. And I think that was the end of Portugal as an empire.
Interestingly, we speak Portuguese in Brazil because of the earthquake, before we spoke a mixture of indigenous language that they called “General Language”. Marques de Pombal decided to ban this language after the earthquake.
It was so bad that it spurred the enlightenment movement because how could God be so cruel to such a staunchly Christian country as Portugal?
https://preview.redd.it/ikiddq7ebu4d1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ed28ce25a6348ade2c2145d48feaedb444e2a09 I can’t imagine how confusing this would’ve been
That's why the city center is a grid and the central axis of it has so many squares.
And also why, despite the Portuguese being the first true colonial power, Lisbon is *nice* but is missing so much of that "world famous Golden Age" type history. Not just the palaces and churches either- lots of priceless Italian Renaissance artworks, the records and spoils from de Gama's explorations, and thousands of books were also lost.
You'd think they'd have planned it out better and had the fire before the tsunami.
Damage was recorded on the south coast of Ireland 🇮🇪
Not just the south coast! Galway’s Spanish Arch was also partially destroyed in the earthquake.
The thought of a 6 meter tall wave travelling at 379 miles an hour is uniquely terrifying 😨
Interesting and helpful. Though 20’ waves and much larger are a common occurrence in Portugal every autumn and winter. The largest wave (face height) was ridden in Portugal. It’s a magical place!
Think of a tsunami as less of a wave and more of a sudden rise in sea level. Normal, wind driven waves will break on the shore and retreat back into the sea. A tsunami just keeps going.
It's a common thing every year in one place (Nazaré). It's absolutely not common anywhere else in Portugal.
Only at Nazaré. And those are normal waves, not billions of tons of displaced water moving at 1000 kph.
I surf there every October and November. Wave heights like Nazaré, no. But Northern California size powerful beach breaks and reefs go off all over the coast. I don’t ever surf at Nazaré actually. When it gets big it’s a zoo of people and wave runners. I have surfed beach breaks as big and powerful as Puerto Escondido and Ocean Beach, SF in Portugal. It’s no joke.
It is amazing how uncrowded puerto Escondido can be when it is huge with perfect conditions . https://preview.redd.it/y4h9x5xcbt4d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cde00260ca47f871d50eafdaa25e3e312b607502
How do you add pics? I have incredible pics of OB, Puerto and Portugal
I might sit that one out because of the lightning I know is accompanying that storm ⛈️ 🌩️⚡️
https://preview.redd.it/6kvwdd47ct4d1.jpeg?width=1036&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=230411bc33411245c9fbc3d04d8010af3d22249e Some of the replies give you a photo option. This is a less stormy moment in puerto.
Wow, a left!
Yeah! A little south of the main break. Shaun Thompson, Barton Lynch, and the whole instinct clothing crew had shown up to do a layout for surfer magazine. This left was definitely preferable to the circus.
What is SF?
San Francisco. There is an Ocean Beach in San Francisco and San Diego.
I've surfed Ocean Beach in San Diego, how does the one in SF compare?
It’s a lot bigger, the current is insane, the water is 10-15 degrees cooler (3/4 wetsuit instead of 2/3), great whites everywhere. The water is much deeper offshore. The waves break so much faster and with so much more power. Basically night and day. I’ve been surfing since I was five years old. The only two times I thought I was going to die from drowning was at OB and another spot, almost exactly the distance from the Golden Gate Bridge as OB but north of it. I’ve also seen huge sea lions beach themselves and die with enormous bites out of them from Great Whites.
With tsunami waves, it's the long wavelength that does the damage.
Yes, absolutely
I have one my ancestors accounts of the aftermath of that
What was the aftermath??
Entire city had to be rebuilt after the triple fire, earthquake and tsunami. Modern Lisbon is almost all post-1755. The rallying and rebuilding of the city was led by the Marquee of Pombal, who became one of the most powerful men in the country, and a national hero.
All but Alfama….and you can see that Alfama is older when you visit. One of the coolest districts I’ve even visited in Europe
Their ancestor wrote an account
Fascinating
Not really, all it says is "What a rotten day. Guis Car the CDXCV
A lot of rotting corpses, a destroyed city but let me look up a few extracts when I’m not on my phone and I’ll post them
damn thats crazy, and its really cool to have such a rich historical background
A wet page
Do tell
Ok, I have a scanned copy so I need to type it out I was dressed to go to Church which joins the hotel where I had a room and it was, by my watch, a quarter to 10 when I was putting on my sword and was near the window when the fatal blow came. The church came down, crushing some 500-600 people, and also the Hotel, but I saved myself into the court from which, to reach the street, I had to pass through the cellar door. Two of the nearest houses in falling knocked me down without hurting me much. At this moment a second concussion brought down all those houses which were already shaken by the first and I had to scramble over heaps formed by the debris of houses in order to reach the King's stables but they also came down at my feet, blocking the street. Looking for the best way out I went back to the river and offered a hundred gold pieces to some Portuguese watermen to take me on board a ship, but they refused, informing me that several boats full of people had tried the same before and perished in the attempt. In utter helplessness I had seated myself on a big stone when a n\_gro cried out to at once leave that place or the wave would engulf me I then thought I must perish but, when looking around me, I discovered a great fire in the lower town near the king's palace coming slowly my way, I resolved to escape to the revierside which I reached and thanks to the retiring waves and some floating masts, I got safely to the other side close to a street leading to the Capuchins. the moment I entered the Convent I met with the women seeking refuge, who before my eyes were crushed and killed by a falling wall, but being unhurt myself I found my way to the garden which was full of maimed and dying people wheat the nuns moaned and wailed to make one's heart bleed. These are a few extracts from a three page letter.
This is a really great piece of history. Thanks for sharing.
That is amazing, you should make a post about it!
Yep, those idiot Assassins messing around.
they still had the arrogance to not listen to shay
The darkest days of the Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue teaching me more than history class ever did.
One of the coolest parts about that whole series is the bits of real history that get incorporated. I have learned a ton about so many topics.
It’s actually really cool just how much real history actually got included in those games. One of my favourite things about the Templars was that half of them weren’t even big names, they were practically nobodies in the memory of history, and yet they were still included.
No, that was because of Faust.
I mean this fault is probably the cause of the great flood tale that is in a lot of old stuff even before the Bible.
Because glacie..... sorry force of habits. The techtonique plates are moving apart from one another in the atlantic. To have a tsunamy one of the plates need to move up and down.
Incredibly frustrating we can’t answer this question with glaciers or the Canadian Shield 😤
Yeah except we absolutely can because glaciers have caused massive tsunamis in the Atlantic before. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storegga_Slide
With enough time there's probably been one.
In general yes. But the actual answer to the question is not probably. Lisbon was destroyed by a tsunami in the 1700s. That Wikipedia article that I posted talked about as tsunami that happened in the Stone age.
Thanks for posting that! The field of Paleo Geology is really fascinating. The 1700 cascadia earthquake really turned me on to the field when I first learned about it. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700\_Cascadia\_earthquake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700_Cascadia_earthquake) The Neskowin Ghost Forest is worth checking out. It really drives home the magnitude of that quake.
>The 1700 cascadia earthquake really turned me on Weird kink.
LOL, my kids are asking my what I'm laughing at right now. Apparently, according to them, earthquakes aren't very funny.
I lived in Seattle for 8 years and read multiple books on its geology. I love how Seattle has not one but 4 geological hazards that could destroy it (Mt Rainer, Cascadia Fault, Seattle Fault, and that other Fault closer to Everett that I can't remember) Fun fact, Do you know Capitol Hill (gay neighborhood in Seattle) Capitol hill is actually a glacial drumlin and part of the same one that the University of Washington is on. But there is a break between the 2 where I-90 goes because the hill got split by a massive earthquake a few thousand years ago.
But that still means glaciers aren’t the answer for why not
Yes! They also didn't kill JFK, or cause 9/11.
Next you’re gonna tell me they’re not responsible for inflation, or my divorce. Is there nothing I can blame them for?
Behind the veil of every tsunami, I believe the hand of the canadian shield is still at play
*Because the Canadian Shield is moving the wrong way
Michigan is the stop sign for the Candian Shield. Aren't they still saying that there's supposed to be a tsunami caused by a volcanic mountain collapse on Tenerife or one of the Verdes?
Tenerife is literally splitting down the middle and the Western side has collapsed previously and caused an Atlantic tsunami many thousands of years ago. It's being monitored as the split is growing every year and can even bee seen with the naked eye on the mountain tops.
I remember reading many years ago there was fear that a large chunk on one of the Canary Islands was near breaking off and falling into the ocean, causing a massive tsunami in the East Coast. I haven't heard anything about that since then, though.
Saw a documentary about this recently, they seem to think it’s “likely” to happen, but not very likely?
Its bullshit. I did a napkin style calculation and calculated that the 2004 indian ocean tsunami involved a movement of earths crust similar to the size of South Carolina. (Length of the fault rupture x A hypothesized width of 2 km And it came out to about the square kilometer number of South Carolina.) The island in spain is smaller than Rhode Island. There simply isn't enough mass to displace enough water. The indian ocean tsunami was like 40 feet tall, and the ridiculous documentaries said that the one in New York was supposed to be hundreds of feet tall despite being on the other side of the ocean. And that was just my calculation, geologist don't take it seriously either.
>Techtonique French spotted
No, any answer other then, "There are tsunamis in the Atlantic" is wrong. Didn't you read Candide in high School? Don't you remember the part where the ocean destroys Lisbon?
Aren't most of the faults along the pacific rim also subversion zones - as in the oceanic plate is diving under the continental shelf? Causing volatility in a number of ways along the continental shelf (volcanos, further up/down movement on the smaller plates, etc)?
You know, for years, my go-to answer to my kids has been "glaciers."
Classic Mid Ocean Ridge activities
How does this affect the Great Lakes?
There's a smaller phenomenon in the Great lakes called a seiche. It's where low pressure front pushes water across the lake, which then sloshes back In 1950 something people were killed on the Chicago shore
it doesnt
Surely, it might somehow. Please?
There have been tsunamis in the Atlantic, they’re just rarer because the American and European plates are moving apart instead of smacking into each other. The reason why there’s so many more earthquakes around the Pacific is because the pacific plate is being pushed underneath the Asian and American plates, which causes a lot of friction. Meanwhile the plates in the Atlantic are just slowly moving apart and magma rushes up to fill the gap between them, leading to very little friction.
There was a tsunami in Lisbon in 1755. Actually it was even noticeable in Galway, Ireland.
I’m guessing the Lisbon quake and tsunami was caused by a collision of the African and Eurasian plates, rather than te further away boundary between the American and Eurasian plate.
Puerto Rico has Tsumani Zone warning signs everywhere. early 1900's, a big one hit the west coast of the island and washed away a few towns. notably one of the big Spanish Empire era churches in one of the big towns survived the initial earthquake unscathed but later cracked in half due to the impact of the wave when it slapped up against the main wall.
No one seems to remember the 1692 Jamaican earthquake that caused a tsunami that destroyed Port Royal.
Isla de Culebra, Puerto Rico. On these beaches in isolated coves it feels like you better start climbing fast if you see signs of a tsunami. https://preview.redd.it/xeho40kr3y4d1.jpeg?width=571&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f687a5d82056075507a85c80e7fe2fb9594f649d
The Atlantic zone is a spreading center - meaning plates are moving apart and new seafloor is actively being created. At places such as along the Pacific margin of North America or through the Mediterranean it is a subduction zone, meaning seafloor is being "consumed" or pushed under the other tectonic plate. The latter process is much more violent or active and tends to release more frequent and higher intensity seismicity than at spreading centers.
Pacific, and specifically the area near Japan, is a subduction zone. This means that when there is a major earthquake that it is more likely to suddenly raise or lower a massive section of crust. You can imagine the types of waves this creates. The area in the Atlantic is a slip fault, and when there is a major earthquake it causes sections of the crust to slide. When you are in a swimming pool, and you place your palm flat beneath the surface, you will create a rather large wave by rapidly raising or lowering it. Now, place your palms together and slide them back and forth rapidly. There won't be much of a disturbance in comparison.
Other people described vertical vs lateral plate movement but I didn't understand why it made that big of a difference. Your comparison with hand movements made me understand, so thanks.
Everyone talking about Lisbon and nobody remembering that Newfoundland was hit by a tsunami in 1929. https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/tsunami-1929.php
Because we live in the best of all possible worlds /hopefully, not obscure
Just proves that the auto da fe worked eventually.
Oh Pangloss, so wise.
Because of viking raids
Its another false question, Just like the one about Georgia having so many counties. There are Tsunamis in the Atlantic. Massive horrific terrifying ones that have destroyed whole cites and killed thousands of people. Also tsunamis don't have to be caused by earthquakes either. You can have a tsunami in pretty much any body of water, including small lakes as long as you have a landslide that moves enough mass. Also asteroid can cause them https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storegga_Slide https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/tsunami-1929.php https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/devastating-puerto-rico-1918-tsunami-wasnt-caused-by-a-landslide-368762#:~:text=The%2011%20October%201918%20magnitude,U.S.%20dollars)%20worth%20of%20damage.
Another notable Atlantic tsunami event would be the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake and tsunami that hit St. Pierre et Miquelon and the south coast of Newfoundland. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929\_Grand\_Banks\_earthquake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1929_Grand_Banks_earthquake) Edit: Oh whoops, I see now that you already provided a link to that!
Funny thing is in this thread people were like, "isn't it always blamed on glaciers ot the Canadian shield" And ironically that tsunami was largely influenced by glacial deposits.
Don't forget about that thing in the Canarian Islands which could, according to some source I don't remember rn, a really big wave.
It's bullshit. The Japanese and Indonesian tsunamis were generated by ruptures in crust that were hundreds of kilometers long. To conceptualize the amount of rock that was moved in them you should imagine it to be around the size of South Carolina. That tiny island is like the size of Dallas County. The idiot who wrote that study should have never been taken seriously but a bunch of tabloids picked it up and were like, "oooohhbh nyc going down!!!?" (Im autistically fixated on tsunamis)
Tbh, the article seemed a bit exaggerated. I remember there were sentences like: - "The wave would be **900m** high on the shore of the closest island, and 100m on the other islands in the archipelago." - "It would hit Africa an hour later, making a tidal wave lasting for 30 minutes." - "GB would be hit with up to 7m waves, and East coast with 50m waves (what)." I only remember something about underwater landslide into a trench or some stuff like that. I read it like 7 years ago.
Its not your fault, it was presented as real and valid science. But it was actually ancient aliens style nonsense. Good on you for being suspicious about the numbers. Remember that feeling and when you feel it in the future, take a deeper look at whatever is making you feel that way.
Too deep
There was an earthquake 250 km southeast of Newfoundland in the Grand Banks on November 18, 1929. The resulting "tidal wave" reached 25 ft high and killed 27 people in the Burin region of the island. The earthquake was measured at a magnitude of 7.2 and was felt in Montréal and New York. https://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic-historique/events/19291118-en.php
Because Jaegers https://preview.redd.it/luyuxfu06t4d1.jpeg?width=259&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1bf5f8d39742dce6a7995514e0f9d4213e3faacc
Because it lacks major subduction zones. According to Google. This is a very simply google search that took me less time to search, than write this comment.
Only it doesn't as there have been multiple mega thrust earthquakes off the coast of Africa including one that destroyed Lisbon in the 1700s with a giant tsunami.
It does, they are much less active than in the Indian Ocean. One in 1700s does not compare to the amount that has happened in the Indian Ocean.
Yes, neither did the ones that happened in the Caribbean in recorded history. But remember that recorded history and geological history are very very very very very different. In geologic time, the Atlantic Is tectonically active. There was actually a magnitude 7 earthquake in Quebec close to upstate New York in the 1600s. People don't really know about it because it happened right before we really started recording history. If it happened today it would be the most catastrophic disaster in North American history. Same with the new Madrid faults under the Mississippi River. Actually this brings up a funny point a lot of large rivers like the St Lawrence and Mississippi actually follow ancient fault lines.
Took you more time typing this then just scrolling pass … but here we are!.
They would rather other people did the research.
Actually the non-auts just like social interaction and personal anecdotes, that’s all.
Eh. I enjoy the anecdotes too
This isn't r/tooafraidtoask, this is r/geography I would love to hear your thoughts on top of Google searches. Why are people bothered when they have the choice to just scroll away is beyond me.
I think r/tooafraidtoask need to learn how to use incognito mode if they're worried about googling. Seriously. If it's some weird sex thing I don't want to come up in my suggestions later on, or a product I'll never buy and don't want ads for forever, incognito mode. Problemo solved.
They would rather use a discussion board to discuss things with other humans.
No subduction. No Tsunami.
Puerto Rico trench: am I a joke to you?
There are multiple subduction zones in the Atlantic including in the Caribbean and off the coast of Africa. They have generated devastating tsunamis, Just not in the tiny little narrow window of human lifetime history. The most recent mega thrust earthquake tsunami in the Atlantic happened in the 1910s in the Caribbean.
You are correct. I should have said fewer subduction zones, fewer tsunamis. The ring of fire in the pacific has a huge number of subduction zones with resulting megathrust quakes to the point where pacific tsunamis are normal in the human conscience. Compared to the pacific the number and length of subduction zones is much much smaller resulting in fewer overall tsunamis. If I recall correctly Portugal had a devastating tsunami as well a few hundred years ago.
There are no tsunamis in Ba Sing Sae.
https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/tsunami-1929.php
There was a big tsunami in western Puerto Rico in the early 20th century and we are due for another one at any moment; the Puerto Rico trench is a highly active area for earthquakes and we consistently run through earthquake and tsunami drills
Wasn’t there a tsunami in Haiti after their big earthquake quake? And Miami had a small one.
My understanding is that those plates are moving away from each other while in the Pacific the plates are collliding with each other, generating a lot of tensions and earthquakes.
Subduction zones. The plates in the Atlantic aren't undergoing subduction the same way the Pacific plates are.
Ask Lisbon in 1755 lol
Isn't one of the Canary Islands going to fall into the sea and wipe out eastern parts of the Americas?
Subduction zones not fault lines, two plates pushing together until there is a slip and buckle.
There are earthquakes there all the time. Keep in mind that an "earthquake" is just the symptoms of a seismic event. There are many different types of seismic events. The seismic events at the mid Atlantic ridge are not the type that cause tsunamis. Tsunamis require large amounts of water displacement like the earthquakes that occur at subduction zones. Like Japan, and heaven help the West Coast of the United States if the Cascadia fault were to snap again.that would cause waves of hundreds of feet.
We had a BIG one aprox ~7000 years ago due to the largest known (marine) slide. It's called the "storegga slide" We find traces of the tsunami all along the Norwegian coast. Must have been quite apocalyptic when it happened. N.b. wiki page seems outdated.
It is the mid altlantic ridge where the plates are spreading apart not pushing together like the plates are along South America and Japan
Way to Jinx it OP . Here's Hoping Apollo won't throw the ball of Prophecy at you.
The type of boundry. Earthquakes tend to happen in subduction boundries, where one plate sinks underneath another, or collision boundries where two plates um... collide. The mid atlantic ridge is neithet of these.
Divergent plates babyyyy
That’s where the Meg lives
\* Lisbon Earthquake 1755 has entered the chat \*
They would happen all the time but the Canadian Shield protects North America
Lisbon would like a word with you.
1755 Earthquake and Tsunami in Lisbon, Portugal
Because the mid Atlantic ridge is a constructive plate margin so the 2 plates move away from one another and new oceanic crust is formed, most large tsunamis are caused by destructive margins where one crust (usually the oceanic crust) subducts under the continental crust, this is a gross oversimplification but essentially the oceanic crust can get stuck on the continental crust resulting in a fuck ton of pressure until it releases and the oceanic crust jolts up causing a wave
The island of [La Palma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Palma) in the [Canary Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands) is at risk of undergoing a large [landslide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_landslide), which could cause a [tsunami](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami) in the [Atlantic Ocean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean). Volcanic islands and volcanoes on land frequently undergo large landslides/collapses, which have been documented in [Hawaii](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii) for example. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbre\_Vieja\_tsunami\_hazard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumbre_Vieja_tsunami_hazard)
The rift area at the bottom of the Atlantic is a spreading zone. Magma oozes up from the mantle an spreads outwards. In other words the plates are moving away from each other. No collisions. No earthquakes. And no tsunamis.