Ben is referring to the "mega tsunami" hypothesis, where a giant landslide could theoretically generate an immense wave. There are several reasons to doubt this idea.

In order to generate such a giant wave, the landslide would have to behave as a single coherent block. However, actual landslides don't tend to happen that way. While there is evidence that blocks have slumped off of the Canary Islands in the past, they seem to have broken as a series of subunits, which do not generate tsunamies on anywhere near the scale of a "mega tsunami".

Also note that a mega tsunami of that scale would leave a deposit as evidence. All that stuff scored off of Florida would get dumped elsewhere. Such deposits HAVE NOT been found from previous slumps of the Canary Islands.

See Killing off the Canary Islands mega tsunami scare for more info.

I remember watching that documentary of the Canary Island created tsunami. It isn't implausible.

It has happened before but it is rare: Hawaii has sloughed off huge landslides in the prehistoric past that have left evidence all over the Pacific.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilina_Slump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilina_Slumphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilina_Slump

However, the mega-tsunami and super-volcano or all the mega-disaster terms that have been coined in the last few years have served little more than rattle the imagination along with metor/comet hits and have captivated movie audiences. The chances of these events happening in mine or yours lifetime are extremely low.

I'd worry more about the "run of the mill" hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods and earthquakes. I say that with a bit of cheese...

Yeah, low likelihood, big damage, interesting analysis, about like any other mega-disaster theory looming these days. Could happen anytime, maybe tomorrow, but maybe not in another 100 to 10,000 years. Sorta like the stories about Mag 9 earthquakes, supervolcanoes, asteroid impacts etc...

Don't know how you can prep for any of these type of events. Like my wife's favorite counter-argument, "you never know..."

Everybody gotta die sometime.

I'm pretty sure that prehistoric Britain was scoured by a landslide-generated Mega Tsunami. I agree that it's impossible to be prepared for everything. I think it makes sense to devote most of one's resources- personally and as a society- to the most likely and/or serious threats. Let's face it- if the Yellowstone Caldera explodes in a full force eruption there's not much we can do. That would be a very challenging event for humans a species, much less individual people. [While the media likes to talk about how "overdue" such an explosion is the fact remains that the best geological evidence points to decreasing activity over the millenia- ie. it may not be overdue so much as just slowing in activity.] On the other hand, earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes/typhoons are much more regular occurrences. Add to this list tornadoes, flood and blizzards and you're getting down to the things that we really should be preparing for.

If you live in coastal environment (as I do) you must consider tsunamis in your disaster plans, because they are coming, tsuner or later.

The last few years I've noticed a surge of concern about tsunamis on the west coast, accompanied by a veritable flood of new information on how to escape them.

Indeed, we have recently been inundated - up to our necks, as it were, by tsunami warning signs. But there is no escaping - in my part of town, as soon as you have attained enough elevation to be reasonably safe from the big T, you are in an officially designated "earthquake hazard zone" with all its problems, including liquifaction.

Yet, despite all this, the Washington post proclaimed my county (Ventura) as the most desirable place to live in the continental US, excluding Alaska and Hawaii (which have plenty of nice spots as well).