French Mediterranean coast should expect a tsunami every thirty years
The natural disaster is certain based on review of historical records, say researchers
French authorities have performed several emergency systems tests in coastal areas including in le Grau-du-Roi in Gard
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A tsunami is highly likely to occur in the western Mediterranean within the next 30 years, according to new scientific report that draws on historical records - with the south of France potentially impacted by the natural disaster.
The report, published in Pure and Applied Geophysics, follows a model that has already been accurately applied to assess the likelihood of earthquakes and tsunamis in different parts of the world based on records of seismic magnitude and tsunami height.
The risk of tsunami was already known to exist, but the researchers re-evaluated this based on how waves move through different parts of the Mediterranean sea.
They concluded that the eastern Mediterranean has a significantly higher tsunami risk, “particularly on the coasts of Libya, Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece”.
Overall, the study found that the likely frequency of damaging tsunamis was around every 22 years for the whole Mediterranean basin and every 118 years in the western Mediterranean.
Smaller tsunamis, it says, tend to occur every 30 years in the western Mediterranean, while the most cataclysmic only every 1,600 years.
Spain at higher risk, but French coast undoubtedly affected
Areas along the Spanish coast Mediterranean coast have a higher risk of tsunami activity than the French coast.
While a major tsunami event is of course unlikely, alerts have been raised in France over possible threats after earthquakes in Algeria and Greece that could have triggered a tsunami.
In 1979, a tsunami near Nice killed a number of people (officially estimates differ), when waves reached around 3.5m high.
There is some debate as to whether the landslide that caused the wave was due to construction work at the nearby airport or if it was caused by underwater seismic activity.
Earlier this year, the French nationwide alert warning system FR-Alert sent out a trial warning to hundreds of thousands of people in the south of France, mimicking what would happen in the event of a tsunami.
Read more: What to do if you live near Mediterranean and missed tsunami SMS alert
