A island off the west coast of Africa has been determined to possibly erupt and drop a huge chunk of land into the Atlantic ocean. It will cause a tsunami and I want to know how long it will take to travel to the US. Maybe just the average speed of tsunami.
2006-09-04 15:36:44 · 4 answers · asked by themellowking 1 in Environment
A tsunami wave travels across open ocean at an average speed of 500 mph. This would mean that a major landslide at the Canary Island of La Palma would reach the US in about seven hours.
2006-09-05 00:05:28 · answer #1 · answered by cordefr 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow, a really neat question but a huge hole where there was supposed to be information on "where in Africa", and "where in the United States" our calculations should be based upon.
The coast of Aftrica is huge (north to south) as is the coast of the North American Continent.
The wave you questioned would travel at around 500 miles per hour over such a wide range of distances that any finite number is impossible to calculate (no end points given). For your discussion let us just say between 6 and 16 hours would be required for the wave to reach the North American Continent. I don't know if the points are straight across from each other, or at an angle up, or angle down from each other.
Here are some typical times:
Maine to Northern Tip of Africa - 3138 mi = 6.3 Hrs
Fla. Keys to Northern Tip of Africa - 4315 mi = 8.6 Hrs
NC to Dakar (straight across) - 3400 mi = 6.8 Hrs
Maine to Southern Tip of Africa - 7845 mi = 15.7 Hrs
Fla Keys to Southern Tip of Africa - 6800 mi = 13.6 Hr
I hope these calculations help you in your assignment.
2006-09-06 04:36:58 · answer #2 · answered by zahbudar 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the speed is several hundred miles per hour. About as fast as an airliner. So a few hours.
2006-09-04 15:40:08 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My guess is about 3 hours...
2006-09-05 05:50:06 · answer #4 · answered by Moppie098 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋