Updates:
June 15, 2026: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6Q2TFJ-FctE
December 15, 2021: "Engaging communities with Canada’s earthquake early warning system"
November 15, 2021 ; Technical paper on area: https://i2mportal.com/resource_detail.php?resource_id=11383
October 10, 2021 Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJvRrZttfsg
October 12, 2021 Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANyb-w7KFqk
Live Earthquake Monitoring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJLg-nFB7VE
UPDATE:
Based on the wide distribution of this ALERT around the Internet comes overreactions ranging from fear to underreaction. This ALERT accomplished its intention: make people aware of the potential for a natural disaster of major proportions. But the underreaction and critical message put out by so-called Fact Checking groups, including the U.S. Geological Survey, reminds me of when my former business partner, Dr. Ted Foss of NASA in the 1980s was asked by news people if any of the volcanoes along the west coast of the U.S. were likely to erupt. Dr. Foss said that they were overdue. The next day, the Oregon newspapers were filled with "volcanoes will erupt soon". Dr. Foss shortly received a phone call from the headquarters of the U.S. Geological Survey instructing Dr. Foss to let the USGS public relations people respond to such questions in the future, which of course he did. But, a few days later, Mt. St. Helens erupted covering the Portland area with a few inches of volcanic ash ... and people in the area of the eruption died as a result. (see the memorial of Dr. Foss (bottom of page 18, here).
This ALERT did not say a slope failure was imminent, but rather might be activated if certain geological conditions came together in the area. Pretending something like this can not happen is poor reporting, an exaggeration of the wrong kind, and certainly not a conspiracy theory. The USGS downplaying this potential to avoid panic is laudable, but misplaced once again. They and others should state the science as a possibility, not as being unlikely. Now, at least, people will be prepared and know to go to higher ground if they hear that the volcanic slope has failed. They will have 7 or 8 hours to get away from the coastal areas.
As Senior Editor of the I2M Web Portal, and as a professionally licensed geologist in 5 states and as Chief Geologist/Hydrogeologist of I2M Consulting, LLC with some 55 years as a professional geologist, I stand by the statements made herein.
FIRST ALERT ..................................
Geological evidence by Ward and Day published in 2001 suggested that the next eruption of the Cumbre Vieja Volcano on the island of La Palma or in the general vicinity might cause a major slope failure into the Atlantic Ocean causing a major tsunami that could impact the east coast of the USA.
Future eruptions, such as going on presently in the general area, at or near the Cumbre Vieja Volcano on the Island of La Palma or volcanic activities in the general area may stimulate the catastrophic failure of its west flank, dropping 150 to 500 km3 of rock into the sea. Using a geologically reasonable estimate of landslide motion, the authors of the paper modeled tsunami waves produced by such a collapse. Waves generated by the run-out of a 500 km3 (150 km3) slide block at 100 m/s could transit the entire Atlantic Basin and arrive on the coasts of the Americas with 10-25 m (30-75 feet) height, or more if the run-up calculations need revision.
Preliminary plans should be made to exit the coastal areas if the failure occurs. Just be on alert. If the slope failure occurs, the tsunami will require about 7-8 hours to arrive at the eastern coast of the U.S. Plenty of time to get to higher ground away from the coast.
For more details, here is the associated video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6utAunBKXV4
For monitoring activities, see the Smithsonian / U.S. Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Reporting: https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=383010#September2021
2012 Video on modeling of tsunami: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb4T8a1K5tw
2021 Video of current La Palma Island volcanic eruptions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRcs7KoiURg
For monitoring an active Earth for seismic activity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJLg-nFB7VE
It just a matter of scale: Smaller slope failures can also become large slope failures, given the driving conditions:
USGS Report: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1071/ofr20211071.pdf
October 7, 2021:
More recent updates on La Palma conditions: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/spanish-madrid-canary-islands-africa-european-union-b1931750.html
Looks like there is plenty of coverage on the La Palma matters (more).
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