The Storegga tsunami was caused by a huge underwater collapse off the coast of Norway and produced giant waves over 20 meters high that struck islands in the Shetland archipelago.
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In the north of England, the waves were 3-6 meters high. To find out whether the tsunami could have destroyed the local population, the researchers conducted computer modeling of the wave at the archaeological site of Howick in Northumberland.
The researchers ran wave modeling in two different sea level change scenarios and found that in both cases the tsunami did not reach Howick, except if it occurred during high tide. Including the latter in the model increased the inundated area.
If so, the consequences would have been catastrophic, including because the wave would have also destroyed food natural resources. This would have led to a massive population decline throughout Northwest Europe.
