A large tsunami in the Mediterranean could engulf many popular holiday hotspots and threaten the lives of 130 million people living along the sea’s busy coastlines, a new study has revealed.
Researchers examining the impact of earthquakes off the north coast of Africa have simulated the impact of the devastating waves one might trigger.
They found that if an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit off the coasts of eastern Sicily in Italy and southern Crete in Greece, it would leave large areas of the coastline under water.
The research suggests some of the most densely populated parts of coastline in the region, many of which are popular holiday destinations, would be hit by the huge waves.
Their model additionally found that almost 1.5 square miles (3.8 sq km) of Crete would be lost to the ocean while the steeper cliff faces of Sicily would mean just 0.2 square miles (0.5 sq km) would be lost.
The Greek islands, which are popular with tourists and the coastline of Peloponnese would be particularly badly hit.
Researchers warn that while tsunamis in the Mediterranean are rare they tend to happen around once a century.
And they say larger earthquakes could trigger even more devastating waves, like the one that hit off the coast of Crete in 365AD with a magnitude of between 8 and 8.5.
The resulting tsunami destroyed ancient cities in Greece, Italy and Egypt, killing some 5,000 people in Alexandria alone.
More recently, an earthquake of magnitude 7 hit the Messina region in Italy in 1908, causing a tsunami that killed thousands, with waves exceeding 33ft (10 metres) in height.
Dr Achilleas Samaras, an engineer specialising in wave dynamics at the University of Bologna in Italy and lead author of the study, said: ‘We wanted to find out how coastal areas would be affected by tsunamis in a region that is not only the most active in the Mediterranean in terms of seismicity and tectonic movements, but has also experienced numerous tsunami events in the past.
‘The main gap in relevant knowledge in tsunami modelling is what happens when tsunami waves approach the nearshore and run inland.
‘Although the simulated earthquake-induced tsunamis are not small, there has been a recorded history of significantly larger events, in terms of earthquake magnitude and mainshock areas, taking place in the region.
‘Our simulations could be used to help public authorities and policy makers create a comprehensive database of tsunami scenarios in the Mediterranean, identify vulnerable coastal regions for each scenario, and properly plan their defence.’
The Mediterranean sits on the boundary where the African tectonic plate slides under the Eurasian plates.
Associated Newspapers Ltd