Megatsunami seven times higher than Wallace Monument puts humans in our place
The second-tallest wave ever recorded was almost unfathomably large
The Wallace Monument is pretty tall, right? At 67 metres (220ft), and helped by being located on a small hill, it dominates the surrounding landscape.
Now imagine a wave. No, not one the same height as the Monument, but an astonishing seven times higher or, to be exact, 482 metres (1,581ft) or, to be less exact, about half the size of Ben Lomond!
This was the towering, terrifying height of a "mega-tsunami" recorded in Alaska last year – after a massive chunk of mountain fell into the sea – which is now the subject of a scientific paper. It was the second biggest ever known, only slightly lower than the record-holder, a 524m behemoth from 1958, also created in Alaska.
Scotland has seen tsunamis before. About 8,000 years ago, one hit the east coast of Scotland and Shetland, travelling at an estimated 80mph. It is thought to have been about 25 metres high. A comparative tiddler, yet we can still see evidence of where it struck.
Every now and again, we get a reminder of just how small we humans really are. But that's probably no bad thing.
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