Modeling Tsunami Wave Generation and Evolution due to the Collapse of the Cumbre Vieja and its effect on the U. S. Atlantic Coast

The lack of big subduction zones in the Atlantic Ocean makes the threat of tsunami inundation on the east coast of the U.S. different from that on the west coast. The identified faults that do exist in the Atlantic and Caribbean are ill-defined in terms of tsunami source generation. While the big 1755 earthquake destroyed Lisbon, what effect might it have had on the U.S. east coast? The other question discussed in the literature is the possible effect on the U.S. east coast of a tsunami generated by a hypothetical collapse of the Cumbre Vieja volcano. We address the question of what possible effect this collapse would have on the U.S. Atlantic coast. This study presents results of running a version of the hydro-model (i-SALE), designed to model the dynamics of the landslide and associated tsunami, as well as wave propagation in the Atlantic and potential coastal inundation, by coupling impact results to the Method of Splitting Tsunami (MOST) model. This research highlights advances in state-of-the-art impact modeling as applied to tsunami wave generation and evolution, which will significantly broaden the scope of potential tsunami sources in NOAA's forecast system.