00:00Most Americans who fear a megatsunami think of the Pacific.
00:03But scientists say the deadliest wave threat to the United States
00:07may be hiding in the Atlantic.
00:09And it is pointing directly at the east coast.
00:12The Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma in the Canary Islands
00:16has been studied by geologists for decades.
00:19Their conclusion is alarming.
00:21If a specific portion of the western flank of this volcano
00:24collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean,
00:26it could generate a megatsunami.
00:28The wave could travel westward at the speed of a commercial jet
00:32and reach the U.S. east coast in approximately eight hours.
00:36Modeling suggests the initial wave height at certain coastal points
00:40could exceed 100 feet.
00:42Some researchers warn that wave run-up in certain bays and inlets
00:45could be dramatically higher.
00:47Cities directly in the potential path include Miami,
00:51Savannah, Washington, D.C.'s coastal margins,
00:55Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
00:59Scientists debate the probability of such an event occurring.
01:03But they do not debate the consequences if it did.
01:06There would be no comparable natural disaster
01:08in recorded American history.
01:11The east coast has far fewer designated tsunami evacuation routes
01:15than the west coast.
01:16Most residents have no plan.
01:18The Pacific is not the only ocean that can kill.
01:21The Atlantic is watching, too.
01:22The Atlantic is watching, too.
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