Volcano larger than Washington D.C., discovered

An underwater volcano with a base larger than Washington, D.C., has been discovered just off the shores of Sicily, a scientist with Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said on Thursday.

The base of the structure was 30 km (18.6 miles) long and 25 km wide, spanning an area larger than the U.S. capital and making it Italy's largest underwater volcano.

But Lanzafame said Sicilians did not need to worry about the sleeping Empedocles. "At this point, there's no imminent danger of an eruption.

CNN full story

Well, with all the activity we are having these days, I really hope the above mentioned statement is true.

Do you think they really know when an underwater volcano will erupt? Or when it will not erupt?

Good find, wonder if this could be the volcano that destroyed "Atlantis". In the right area I guess. This one is huge.

Aha, this is the one that created Graham Island in 1831. It erupted north of Malta, in one of the most strategic spots in the Med. Graham Island was the British name for it, after a RN ship landed some people on it. Everyone else then claimed it - the French, the Neapolitans, etc. Almost caused a war. Then it eroded away and has been dormant ever since. I didn't know that it was that big though!

Gosh that is quite worrying, but i also heard that there are still many unfound volcanoes in the world that could be so distrutive if ever when ofF ... and the point that we still do not know where they are and unable to monitor them

S Italy was shook yesterday by a 4.5 quake



LINK

2006-06-23:

2.4 Central Italy

ML 3.1 Crete, Greece

ML 3.1 Greece

Greece, magnitude unknown - Albanian Border

200-06-22:

Dodecanese Islands, Greece, magnitude unknown

ML 2.6 Sicilia, Italy

uknown magnitude, Greece

MD 3.1 Dodecanese Islands, Greece

magnitude unknown, Greece

magnitude unknown, Greece

Based on the size of this - new - volcano, I thought I had to mention the quakes close to it... Greece is a very active area if you look further to other days
EMSC updates

Originally posted by Darkmind
Aha, this is the one that created Graham Island in 1831. It erupted north of Malta, in one of the most strategic spots in the Med. Graham Island was the British name for it, after a RN ship landed some people on it. Everyone else then claimed it - the French, the Neapolitans, etc. Almost caused a war. Then it eroded away and has been dormant ever since. I didn't know that it was that big though!

Oh, yes,
the volcano you mention emerged in 1831 and is now about 7 meters below the surface of the water.
Source: New Volcano full story

btw, what is the consequence of an underwater volcano eruption? does it cause a tsunami or what exactly is going to happen? i think outcoming lava cannot be the actual problem... (underwater)

Well, I am not an expert, but I assume there must be some effect when such a volcano erupts. Of course it will always depend on the kind of eruption, the location of the volcano, how deep it is, etc.

I found an interesting article about underwater volcanoes:
Many underwater volcanoes erupting simultaneously all over the world – tectonic disturbance steadily rising – are we headed for a major catastrophe?





[edit on 28-6-2006 by Ptolomeo]

Just wanted to add some new information to this thread which I believe is important. I saw this today at www.foxnews.com...

This volcano is massive, 9800 feet tall, 44 miles long and 19 miles wide. Reminds me of an underwater Yellowstone. I would be packing up and heading away from the shores of Italy.

As quoted from the news story:

The Marsili volcano, which is bursting with magma, has "fragile walls" that could collapse, Enzo Boschi told the leading daily Corriere della Sera.

"It could even happen tomorrow," said Boschi, president of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).

"Our latest research shows that the volcano is not structurally solid, its walls are fragile, the magma chamber is of sizable dimensions," he said. "All that tells us that the volcano is active and could begin erupting at any time."

[edit on 3/29/2010 by wrangell76]