Potential for landslide-related tsunami in the Dover Strait area (English Chanel) based on numerical modelling
Abstract
Although earthquakes and tsunamis are less frequent
in the Dover Strait
than over active subduct
ion zones, a
plausible potential exists for intraplate earthquakes of magnitude Mw=6.9 generating a tsunami with damaging
consequences. In April 1580, an earthquake shook the region violently and destructions were reported as far as
London in the north and
Rouen in the south. Despite fair weather conditions, a series of abnormal sea waves was
reported in several harbours
(Calais, Boulogne and Dover)
on the same day
. A first step was to produce a range
of numerical coseismic tsun
ami simulations and to compare them with historical witness accounts. Results raise
the question of whether such earthquakes could also
trigger
chalk flow
-
generated tsunamis along cliff lines on
both sides of the Strait. Gravity
-
driven collapses affect the
chalk cliffs periodically, but local tsunami waves
caused by very large mass movements could reach heights of several met
er
s and, for example, strike Dover
.