Tsunami threat looms large over southern Italy

London, Feb 6: Researchers have used historical data to estimate earthquake risk for three different fault zones in the Mediterranean region, which hints towards a potential tsunami for southern Italy.According to a report in New Scientist, Stefano Lorito of the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome, carried out the research.

Tsunamis occur around once a century in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1908, a magnitude 7 earthquake created a tsunami that almost destroyed the Italian cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria, the report said. Now, new historical data by researchers has found that a major rumble in the quake-prone region off the coast of Greece would trigger a tsunami 5 metres high, which would strike the south-east coasts of Sicily and mainland Italy within an hour.

Meanwhile, waves as high as 1.5 metres could be triggered by earthquakes off north Africa and in the Tyrrhenian Sea, north of Sicily. According to the report, other countries could also be vulnerable. "A comparable or even greater threat exists for the coasts of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Greece," said Lorito.

ANI