Underwater landslide likely cause of ‘mild tsunami’ in UK

June 30, 2011 – UNITED KINGDOM  – A “mild tsunami” along the South West coast was probably caused by an underwater landslide, a coastal expert has said. The unusual tidal surge struck the Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Hampshire coastline on Monday morning. There were reports of rivers changing direction, fish leaping out of water and hair standing on end due to static. Dr Mark Davidson, from the University of Plymouth, said the surge was quite a “rare” occurrence. The first reports of the event came from St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall. Boatman Dave Ladner said: “The funniest thing was on the causeway all the ladies’ hair was standing on end with the static. “The sea on the eastern side was probably 8ins (20cm) to a 1ft (0.3m) higher than the rest and it was pouring over the causeway like a torrent rather than just a gentle meeting in the middle.” Roland Stewart from Millbrook, near Plymouth, said: “It was quite violent in a way, my dinghy was moving around with the movement of the water and I just wondered what the hell was going on….within 15 minutes it was all over.” Amateur video footage shot on the Yealm estuary, to the east of Plymouth, shows the surge. Bob Brown was launching his dinghy at the mouth of estuary at 1015 BST, an hour after low tide when he saw the wave. He said: “The tide was coming in from left to right, all of a sudden it stopped coming in from the sea and went back the other way. –BBC

More landslides: LYME Regis Coastguard Rescue Team was scrambled after two landslides in the Charmouth area last night (Wednesday) but fears that someone might have been hurt beneath the mud and rocks proved unfounded. A spokesman said a couple of falls were located east of Charmouth and in the Golden Cap area, one of which involved “significant movement.”  –Midweek Herald