Which would be worse, Taupo erupting or the Cumbre Vieja collapse? It depends on where you and family live and where your investments are. For me, I think the Cumbre Vieja collapse would be worse as it would disrupt CDMA sales much more than the Taupo eruption would do. Living in Auckland, I should be okay and could buy a diesel generator for electricity supplies, or move to the South of France for a while. The NZ$ would take a hit and our house value would decline in US$.
For the people living in Taupo or anywhere within 200 km, especially downwind, things would be very bad.
<What will happen when the volcano on La Palma collapses? Scientists predict that it will generate a wave that will be almost inconceivably destructive, far bigger than anything ever witnessed in modern times. It will surge across the entire Atlantic in a matter of hours, engulfing the whole US east coast, sweeping away everything in its path up to 20km inland. Boston would be hit first, followed by New York, then all the way down the coast to Miami and the Caribbean. >
Imagine all those people having their CDMA base stations swamped! What a catastrophe. They'd have to wrap their cyberphone in plastic to ensure it didn't also get damaged when the wave hit.
Within the Taupo region, I guess there are maybe 200,000 people who would have their base stations and handsets buried or damaged.
So the overall damage would be far worse around the Atlantic ocean. Maybe people will one day figure out that living at the edge of the oceans is not such a good idea. It's not as though they need to go fishing each day.
I note that QUALCOMM has had the sense to build their San Diego buildings high up on the plateau, so it would take quite a big wave to get them. Bangalore is a great place too. 1 km high and way inland. Safe as houses. In a nice climate too. Bangalore is a nice place. I might move there. They need to buy cleaner vehicles though, and get some decent public toilets.
Mqurice |
