For as long as I can remember, at my earliest years as a child, volcanoes have always piqued my interest and now we have several active events making headlines.  

La Palma on the Canary Islands continues to make headlines as its lava flow reaches the ocean. "The lava is continuing to flow like a waterfall and a lava delta is forming at the base of the cliff, extending southwards," the Pevolca volcanic emergency committee said late Wednesday.  

The flow of lava into the ocean has sparked rumors of a mega-tsunami and create fears and assumptions for many on the East Coast, and other areas. These fears and assumptions come from a 2001 scientific study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. See the video here.

“Geological evidence suggests that during a future eruption, Cumbre Vieja Volcano on the Island of La Palma may experience a catastrophic failure of its west flank, dropping 150 to 500 km3 of rock into the sea,” according to authors Steven N. Ward and Simon Day.

Not so fast say, scientists. According to George Pararas-Carayannis, editor of the journal Science of Tsunami Hazards, “the threat of mega tsunami generation from massive flank failures of island stratovolcanoes has been greatly overstated.” ( Experts Address Fears That A Mega-Tsunami) Fact check: Tsunami reaching East Coast due to Spanish volcano highly unlikely, experts say 

And just recently, another volcano is waking up on the Big Island of Kilauea. Although expected to stay within its crater boundaries, the threat is always there. 

So how likely is a volcanic tsunami? It has to be a big event.

"Tsunami are waves caused by a sudden movement of the ocean due to earthquakes, landslides on the seafloor, land slumping into the ocean, large volcanic eruptions or meteorite impact in the ocean. Tsunami initiated by volcanic eruptions is less common than tsunami caused by large earthquakes. This animation shows a tsunami generated following a volcanic eruption." Check out this video on how that works.