Saturday, March 12, 2011

Could there be a Tsunami in Lake Michigan ??

We live, boat, and play near the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan. I do live 10 miles North of the Donald C Cook Nuclear  power plant in Bridgman, MI and 25 miles South of the Palisades Nuclear plant in Covert MI.  After the recent earthquake and resulting tsunami  and nuclear power plant disasters in Japan I began wondering... "Lake Michigan is truly an inland sea - it's 307 miles long, 118 miles wide averages 279 feet deep with depths up to 925 feet in spots- could there be a Tsunami on Lake Michigan resulting from an earthquake under the lake? "

My Internet research this morning indicates it would be very unlikely. Tom Skilling, chief meteorologist at WGN TV in Chicago wrote about this in the Chicago Tribune in 1998. He said " There is no known historical precedent for a tsunami even remotely close to the magnitude of the Papua, New Guinea, event on the Great Lakes. The probability of such an event here has to be considered exceedingly low, says Guy Urban, geophysicist at the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska. Urban does add that several catastrophic, rare and rather improbable occurrences would be required to set up a tsunami here. He's quick to point out the near impossibility, absent careful modeling of such an event, of even beginning to speculate on the dimensions of such a wave. Only a direct asteroid strike, a huge thermonuclear explosion beneath the lake or a massive earthquake might initiate one, and while not impossible, the risks are not especially high" http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1998-07-28/news/9807280043_1_new-guinea-papua-lake-michigan

The Illinois State Geological Society says flatly " ... a tsunami will never strike Illinois, the Lake Michigan coast, including Chicago, is subject to the danger presented by a seiche, a sudden, large type of wave that can cause loss of life and property damage. http://www.isgs.illinois.edu/sections/engin-coast/lakemich-coastal-seiches.shtml

Bill Tenuto who I have not heard of perviously until researching this topic claims to have the gift of foresight through images had a different view in 2008. He said on his blog:


Earthquake Will Strike Near Or Under Great Lakes; Flooding From High Water
Bill Tenuto
February 23, 2008

An earthquake will strike in an area where earthquakes do not commonly occur.

This earthquake will strike in an area several hundred miles to the northwest of New York City.

The probable location of this earthquake will be either under one of the Great Lakes or in one of the Canadian provinces or American states near the Great Lakes.

The probable epicenter of this earthquake will be in the Great Lakes area.

People in many cities around the Great Lakes will feel the shaking from this earthquake.

A likely place for this earthquake to strike will be either under Lake Michigan or near the shores of Lake Michigan.

The people of Milwaukee, Wisconsin will feel this earthquake. The ground under the city of Milwaukee will shake.

Also, the ground will shake in Illinois. The people of Chicago, Illinois will feel the impact from this earthquake. The people of Chicago, Illinois will feel the ground shaking under Chicago.

In addition, people in many cities around the Great Lakes will experience high tides, high water levels and flooding. The earthquake may generate this, or this may be a separate weather event.

The people of Chicago, Illinois and/or people in other shoreline communities around Lake Michigan also may experience unusually high water levels, flooding and/or an unusually high wave (something similar to a tsunami) or waves from Lake Michigan.

There will be an unusual rising up of water in one or more of the Great Lakes areas. There will be an uplifting of water. There will be high water levels. There will be flooding. There will be unusually high tides of water. News media attention will be focused on rising tides. News media attention will be focused on flooding in many cities around the Great Lakes. The news media will talk about floodwaters covering populated areas in cities and towns around one or more of the Great Lakes.
http://futurenewsinfo.blogspot.com/2008/02/earthquake-near-or-under-great-lakes.html


My own comfort level?

One man says "likely" from a vision. Some scientific minds say unlikely from physical studies- that's comforting. Others say unlikely... unless ... . To me it seems those unless'es have been happening a lot more lately on our planet although I tend to go more for the scientific approach over the visionary. So unless...  the Earth under our area seems to have been fairly stable for millions of years.  I think I'll still plant a garden this year.

No comments:

Post a Comment