Say what?! An atmospheric tsunami hit Malta’s east coast & nobody even knew about it
This is an odd one, ladies and gents. What is known as an ‘atmospheric tsunami’ struck Malta’s east coast early on Monday morning, dragging along small boats onto the rocks in Xemxija. And the funny thing is, no one really seemed to notice.
Prof. Aldo Drago, head of the University of Malta’s oceanography research group, told Times of Malta that this phenomenon is known as a coastal seiche, or milghuba in Maltese.
“In the early hours of the day a train of atmospheric gravity waves hit the Maltese islands from the east; their impact on the sea is like a big sea hammer repeatedly hitting the sea surface and producing long period waves in the open sear areas,” he said. Damn. Neptune mustn’t be too happy right now.
The atmospheric tsunami was captured by the monitoring stations based in St Julian’s, which form part of the national observing system run by the oceanography research group. The stations picked up the intense waves starting at around 2.30am and lasting for around three hours.
Prof. Drago also warned owners of vehicles parked near the seaside, saying, “just a few centimetres higher and these sea level oscillations could have well drifted the vehicles away!”
Hear that? Don’t park close to quays and bays. You never know what Mother Nature is getting up to at night!