Approximately what percentage of volcanoes cause "tidal waves"--or
at least large ocean disturbances?
John D. Eigenauer
Hi John,
It is good that you put "tidal waves" in quotes because that is a term
that makes geolgists cringe. The proper term is either seismic sea wave
or tsunami. These waves really don't have anything to do with the tides.
Of course that was just an excuse for me to delay telling you that I
don't know the answer to your question. The potential of
tsunami-producing eruptions is very high around the pacific because there
are so many volcanoes on islands (or islands that are volcanoes), and
volcanoes near the coastlines of continents. Almost all of these pacific
rim volcanoes are strato-volcanoes, meaning that their eruptions are
explosive and that they are made up of layers of both ash and lava. Both
of these situations are good for promoting flank instability which might
cause giant landslides or slope failures into the ocean which in turn
would generate a tsunami.
Probably a high percentage either have produced tsunami in the past or
have the potential to produce them in the future, but I'm sorry
that I don't know what that percentage is.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
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