Tsunami alert in the Balearics

The Balearics are one of the regions in the country most at risk of suffering from a tsunami”, experts from the National Geographic Institute warned yesterday.

Francisco Cortez22/11/2014 00:00

Geology experts from all over the country met this week to discuss matters related with the National Tsunami Alert Network, and explained that the Balearic region, the Mediterranean coast and the Atlantic coast, particularly Huelva and the bay of Cadiz are the regions most exposed if an underwater earthquake was to take place.

They did add that strong tsunamis in the area only happen on average every 1,200 to 1,500 years.

The biggest tsunami in the area, was back in 1755, the biggest natural catastrophe to date recorded in Spain, when the “Lisbon Earthquake” took the lives of 1,200 Cadiz citizens.

Other minor incidents have also been recorded, in 1790, 18004, 1954, 1980 and 2003, all of them off the coast of Algeria.