The Megatsunami That Changed Earth Could Return Anytime

Bright Side

🌊 A single wave once shook the entire planet, and scientists say the conditions that caused it still exist today. This wasn’t a normal tsunami — it was tall enough to wipe coastlines clean in minutes. The scary part is that similar triggers are still active right now. In this video, we break down what caused this megatsunami and where the next one could start. Don’t miss this video if you want to know how close we really are to another world-shaking wave.  Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Hey, can you lift a truck with your hands? No? Shocker.

00:05But let me introduce you to nature's original strongman, the ocean,

00:09which casually tossed 700-ton boulders around like they were pebbles during a mega tsunami

00:15that hit Africa thousands of years ago. This wasn't just a bad day at the beach.

00:20This mega tsunami was so powerful, it made the 2004 Indonesian and 2011 Japanese tsunamis

00:27look like kiddie pool splashes. Now, to give you an idea of how terrifying regular tsunamis

00:33already are, the Japan tsunami produced waves 133 feet tall. The Indian Ocean tsunami was

00:40slightly smaller, but it took over 200,000 lives across many countries. Now imagine something way

00:47worse. You see, for a long time, scientists thought waves that big were just science fiction. But then

00:54they found these enormous boulders, massive chunks of rock, flung far inland, and did the math.

01:00It turns out only waves around 800 feet tall could have pulled off that kind of rocky vandalism.

01:07And the culprit? A volcano that literally fell apart into the ocean and triggered one of the

01:12most powerful tsunamis Earth has ever seen. Usually, tsunamis are blamed on underwater earthquakes,

01:19you know, tectonic plates getting into slap fights. But volcanoes? Oh, they've got tsunami

01:25potential too. In 1883, for example, a volcano in Indonesia named Krakatoa erupted for six months

01:33non-stop until it exploded, and the explosion was heard all the way in Australia. This triggered many

01:40tsunamis, some almost 100 feet tall. Still, that was more like a toe dip compared to the full cannonball

01:48from the megatsunami. Back in ancient times, the volcano that crumbled during the megatsunami was

01:53huge. And it didn't just fall apart. It lost a chunk that was 10 times the size of Mount Everest.

02:0010 Mount Everests. It was like the Earth wanted to see what would happen if we threw a mountain

02:05into the ocean just for fun. It was so massive that when the entire side of the volcano belly flopped

02:13into the Atlantic. It created waves that could cover the Statue of Liberty three times. It also

02:19destroyed an island more than 30 miles away. The volcano behind this real-life Michael Bay scene

02:25was called Fogo, located on, you guessed it, Fogo Island. This island is basically just a whole single

02:32volcano that rose from the sea thanks to a magma hotspot, a place in the ocean where a lot of magma

02:39escapes and erupts like an underwater volcano. Over time, this magma cooled and stacked up like

02:45pancakes, until, voila, after seven major eruptions, the island popped out of the ocean like it was

02:51playing peek-a-boo. Surprise! It's a volcano! But Fogo's dramatic entrance was also a ticking time bomb.

02:59You see, the more a volcano grows, the heavier it gets, and if there's not enough magma inside it to

03:06support it, the whole thing can just collapse. Sometimes, it doesn't take much. A minor earthquake,

03:12some erosion, or just a poor foundation made of soft sediment can trigger a collapse. It's like a

03:18really tall guy trying to balance over a bunch of marbles. Fogo had all the bad luck ingredients.

03:24Too tall, too heavy, and built on squishy ground. And it gets worse. As the volcano grows heavier,

03:31it starts squishing the magma underneath. That lava can't rise, so it just simmers down there,

03:37slowly thickening like soup left on a burner for too long. Gases build up, pressure increases,

03:43and eventually, kaboom! It's the volcanic version of eating too many burritos and then trying to hold

03:49in a sneeze. This massive pressure and imbalance can trigger what's called a flank collapse, which is

03:56science-speak for, oops, half the volcano just fell into the ocean. That's what happened with Fogo.

04:02Most of the volcanic islands that form this way are long gone. But Fogo is still very much alive

04:08and kicking. In fact, it last erupted in 2014, and considering that it goes off every 20 years,

04:15maybe don't travel to Fogo Island in around 2034. For the longest time, scientists believe only big,

04:23bulky volcanic islands could collapse like this. But new research says that even smaller, skinnier guys,

04:29like the Danny DeVitos of the island world, aren't safe either. The thing is that small

04:35volcanic islands only seem stable because of their small mass. It's like Danny DeVito and Arnold

04:41Schwarzenegger both slipping on the ice. Arnie's fall might cause more chaos, but Danny can still go

04:47flying. And those little collapses? Yes, they matter. Take Santa Maria, a tiny island that's

04:54about 170 times smaller than Hawaii. It has collapsed multiple times, not because it wanted

05:00to, but because it's basically standing on soggy breadcrumbs. Its foundation is loose marine sediment,

05:06and to make things worse, it's sitting right next to the East Azores Fault, where three tectonic

05:13plates meet up for daily slap fights. This fault is responsible for many earthquakes

05:19and even some tsunamis that happened in Lisbon in the past, so you can imagine what it's like

05:25living right above it. Every time the volcano in Santa Maria erupts and grows, it also sinks.

05:32But when a chunk collapses, it bounces back up like a buoy. This seamount-to-island-to-seamount-to-island-again

05:39rollercoaster means that Santa Maria has popped in and out of the ocean like a submarine playing

05:45peek-a-boo. And with every peak comes a potential tsunami. Another volcano with similar trust issues

05:53is Paquea, located in Guatemala. Between 2011 and 2013, scientists spotted strange movements in the soil,

06:01tiny shifts that suggested something underneath was getting restless. Sure enough, in 2014,

06:07Paquea erupted. Luckily, it didn't collapse, but that risk still looms, especially if magma gets

06:14trapped in it like it did with Fogo. The consequences could be explosive, literally.

06:20In fact, about a thousand years ago, Paquea experienced a collapse that sent debris avalanches

06:26more than 15 miles away. Since then, it's rebuilt itself like a fiery phoenix, but it could still

06:33crumble again. That's why volcanologists obsess over the tiniest wobbles. It's not paranoia if the

06:40mountain really might fall. Now, you might be thinking here, okay, but that was the past.

06:46Surely that kind of ridiculous megatsunami collapse can't happen again, right? Well, welcome to the 21st

06:53century. Islands like Hawaii, La Palma in Spain, and various parts of the Caribbean are sitting on the

06:59same kind of geological whoopee cushions. All it takes is the right combo. Loose foundation,

07:06steep slopes, maybe some trapped magma, and boom, flank collapse. In fact, it's already happened

07:12recently. In 2018, a Nack Krakatoa, the volcanic baby of the infamous Krakatoa, lost a big chunk of

07:20itself during an eruption. It caused a tsunami, but it was more awkward than devastating. Like a volcano

07:26losing its pants on stage. Embarrassing, but survivable. But that's just amateur hour compared

07:33to history's real showstoppers. Ritter Island's 1888 collapse was so intense that the island literally

07:41got shorter. It went from being more than 2,000 feet tall to a mere 460 feet. But the record holder

07:48is the legendary Latua Bay Megasplash from 1958, where a 7.8-magnitude earthquake triggered a massive

07:57landslide that sent a wave taller than the Empire State Building roaring through Alaska at highway

08:03speeds. Strangely enough, only 5 people lost their lives here. But on the other hand, the destruction

08:10path it left behind can still be seen today, all the way from space. Melting glaciers and ice caps can make

08:17volcanoes collapse too. When they melt, there's a sudden decrease in pressure on Earth's crust

08:23that can destabilize entire volcanoes. It's called isostatic rebound. It's like suddenly yanking a

08:30chair out from under someone who's been sitting still for centuries. Whoops! Also, here's something

08:36you probably never thought you'd worry about on your island getaway. Some volcanic islands grow outward

08:42as lava pours into the sea, creating unstable platforms known as lava deltas. These deltas can

08:49collapse without warning, taking newly formed land – and sometimes turrets too – right back into the

08:55ocean. No pressure, though. Just thought, you know, maybe you want to stay off steaming new land.

09:00So yeah, next time you're lounging on a beachy volcanic island thinking, wow, this place is

09:07paradise. Just remember, it might also be a ticking geological time bomb with a flare for the dramatic.

09:14From ancient mountain-sized cannonballs to surprise lava deltas, volcanoes have a history of keeping

09:20things spicy.

09:27Not an earthquake, but a mega-earthquake could happen in Japan. It's scarier, bigger, and more destructive

09:34than ordinary tremors. However, the problem is that it will occur underwater, which means it will trigger

09:40a giant tsunami 100 feet high. A column of water nearly as high as a 10-story building will collapse

09:48on coastal cities, wiping out hundreds of houses. The water flow can destroy everything in its path,

09:55like a bowling ball that knocks down pins. And then another wave may come. And another one.

10:02Anyone who is at risk should be on their guard. How to survive? You'll find out later in this video.

10:08But first, let's find out what a mega-earthquake is.

10:11This is an earthquake with a magnitude 9 or more. This is a very rare phenomenon, and it depends not

10:21on the power of the shock, but on the length of the fault where it occurs. The longer the fault,

10:27the stronger the earthquake. But what are these faults? These are cracks in the rocks of the Earth's

10:33crust that move relative to each other. Imagine a large puzzle where every detail is a giant tectonic

10:40plate. When one part of the puzzle moves away from another or when they collide,

10:45that's when earthquakes begin. If the fault between the parts is long, then the magnitude of the

10:50earthquake is great. The largest mega-earthquake ever recorded occurred on May 22, 1960, in Chile.

10:59The fault was almost 1,000 miles long. It's almost half the way between Chicago and Los Angeles.

11:06And now, a similar mega-earthquake can happen, underwater.

11:13That's how it all started. Last year, on August 8, at 4.42pm, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1

11:21occurred in southern Japan. The tremors appeared off the coast of the mainland island of Kyushu.

11:28Everyone was terrified as they expected a large tsunami to appear. But fortunately,

11:33they faced only a small wave. It collapsed on the shore, but didn't destroy buildings.

11:39About 15 people got hurt, which is sad, of course. But it could have been worse. It seemed that the

11:45disaster had passed. The residents breathed a sigh of relief. However, after that, the Japan Meteorological

11:52Agency sent a warning about a possible mega-earthquake that could be incredibly devastating.

11:58A previous earthquake of 7.1 magnitude could be a harbinger of an impending catastrophe,

12:05a disaster that could affect a quarter of a million people. As soon as people heard this,

12:10they ran to buy groceries. Increased demand and a slight panic led to shortages of rice and several

12:16other basic products. People were stocking up on food and preparing for the worst. But a week later,

12:22the Japan Meteorological Agency canceled the warning. It turned out that the small tsunami on Kyushu

12:29Island was not a harbinger. No one knows whether a mega-earthquake and tsunami will happen in this

12:37region. But the chances are very high. To understand the nature of this danger, we need to dive underwater

12:43in a place called the Nankai Trough. It is a 500-mile-long underwater fault that runs almost

12:50parallel to the Pacific coast of Japan. This is where the two giant sections of the Earth's crust

12:56meet, the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate. And the Philippine Plate is subducting and

13:02slowly slipping under the Eurasian Plate, on which Japan is partly located. During this movement,

13:09the plates get stuck, accumulating energy. Afterward, when they move and align again,

13:14they release a powerful burst of energy. And this energy is capable of causing one of

13:19the most powerful earthquakes in the world. Experts report that the probability of a mega-earthquake

13:25and a tsunami is about 80%. Over the past 1400 years, mega-earthquakes have occurred every 100 to

13:34200 years in this region. The last time this happened in Japan was in 1946. The entire country felt a

13:41powerful tremor that destroyed 36,000 houses in the southern part of Honshu Island. Every year,

13:48the probability of a repeat of this disaster increases by 1%. And do you know how many years have

13:54passed? 79. According to experts, a mega-earthquake with a magnitude of 8 to 9 can trigger a tsunami that

14:02will flood small islands off the coast of Japan. And areas with large populations on the islands of

14:08Honshu and Shikoshu can be flooded in minutes. Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk.

14:14It can be billions and even trillions of dollars worth of damage. According to some reports, about 530,000

14:22people may lose their homes. To save lives, the country needs to carry out a large-scale evacuation.

14:28But the problem is that no one knows the exact date. In general, no one in the world can predict

14:34in advance when the next big earthquake will occur. In the case of the Nankai Trough, it can happen in

14:41a few days, or a few years, or even centuries. So, what should people do? Prepare.

14:49Japan has been experiencing earthquakes for a long time, so the country has learned to survive a disaster

14:55with minimal losses. Almost every building in Japan is equipped with dampers, which are devices that

15:01suppress any vibrations and make houses more resistant to shaking. In addition, on the shores of Japan,

15:08residents have built long and high shields that don't allow powerful waves to break through to land.

15:14Japan also has an advanced earthquake warning system. It's impossible to predict powerful seismic

15:20activity in a few days or weeks, but it's possible to detect small tremors that may portend an impending

15:27earthquake. Special devices monitor seismic signals and transmit the data to certain programs. Then,

15:34they evaluate the magnitude and intensity of the tremors and send warnings to people's phones.

15:40This can save seconds and even minutes for locals to reach the nearest shelter in time.

15:46These systems are also used to slow down the speed of trains, to stop work at factories,

15:50hospitals, and office buildings. It's much safer for a train driver to slow down during an earthquake

15:56than to rush forward at full speed. But what if you're on the street and you can't hear your phone

16:01messages? How to act in case of disaster? This applies not only to Japan, but also to any place where

16:09a tsunami or earthquake may occur. To survive a tsunami, you need to prepare for it long before

16:16a big wave hits. It's very important to have good relations with neighbors. Be friendly with them,

16:22help them, and treat them well. In times of trouble or disaster, it's great to have people with whom you

16:27have a good relationship. They can help you get out of a difficult situation, and you can also help them.

16:33Be kind and compassionate to people. This way, it's much easier to survive any disaster.

16:40Prepare a backpack with necessities in advance. These are a first aid kit, canned food, flashlights,

16:46a battery-powered radio, and bottled water. All this will not only save your life, but will also help

16:52other people in trouble. So if you feel an earthquake start, immediately run for cover. If you're at home,

16:59try to stand against a wall closest to the center of the building, or crawl under heavy furniture

17:04that stands firmly on the floor, such as a desk or a regular table. Stay away from windows and front

17:11doors, and never use an elevator. If you're on the street, don't come close to power lines and any

17:18objects that may fall. During a tsunami, you may need to get as high as possible to avoid getting

17:23swallowed by water. Stay as far away from the shore as you can, and don't go down until you're sure it's safe.

17:34But how can you find out about an approaching wave if you haven't received the warning?

17:39When a tsunami approaches the shore, you will hear a roar similar to the rumble of a passing train or

17:44plane. If there's no elevation nearby, then try to get to the upper floors. It must be at least the

17:50third floor, but it has to be a building that can resist a tsunami, such as a massive house made of

17:56concrete. If there are no such high buildings nearby, try to climb a massive tree. When the disaster is

18:03over, look around and find those you can help. Listen to messages from rescuers via radio or TV.

18:10If all is well, then you can deal with the consequences. Yes, there's a lot of work ahead,

18:15but you've survived and helped others survive. And that's the most important thing.

18:24That's it for today. So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and

18:28share it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side!

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