U.S. and Russian officials have both described
Thornton says that if Russia launched the Poseidon from a submarine in the middle of the North Sea, it 'would create a fairly 'small' tsunami'. 'But the wave, if it it swamped London, would kill everyone there.
Conceivably tsunami waves can also be generated from very large nuclear explosions. However, no tsunami of any significance has ever resulted from the testing of nuclear weapons in the past.
New underwater weapons that reportedly have the capability to create radioactive, tsunami-style waves are in the process of being fitted to Russian nuclear submarines. The nuclear torpedo, known as Poseidon, is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's six so-called “super weapons”.
Poseidon is a post-doomsday weapon unlike ever seen in any previous arms race. Formed like a giant torpedo, the weapon is nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed, and can allegedly travel down deep with intercontinental range. The Barents Observer first reported about the existence of the weapon back in 2016.
Poseidon is about 65 feet long and 6.5 feet wide, making it the largest torpedo ever deployed. It's so large that it's arguably an underwater drone. The use of nuclear power gives it nearly unlimited range.
Just how large? Initially Poseidon was described as having a yield of 100 megatons, even bigger than the Soviet's record-breaking air-dropped bomb, Tsar Bomba.
A nuclear bomb detonated underwater can't make an actual tsunami.
- Presumably, a modern repeat would use a much more powerful bomb, say 23 Megatons (1000x explosive yield). - The wave energy is proportional to the height squared. - The tsunami might have a height of 150m at a range of 6km - certainly enough to destroy any coastal city, and severely damage a city on a river.
Soviets. Andrei Sakharov in 1961 proposed a torpedo with a nuclear 100-megaton warhead, such a torpedo, could be fired at a safe distance by fitting it with a timing mechanism. Then it would explode at the right time, causing a tsunami.
In 2022, Russian domestic TV propaganda said Poseidon will be able to "plunge Britain into the depths of the sea". According to Russian propaganda during the invasion of Ukraine, the Poseidon Torpedo may initiate a 500 m high shockwave.
TASS reports that these nuclear weapons are "practically indestructible." The weapons have their own nuclear reactor to power the torpedo. Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow for seapower and missile defense at British defense think tank RUSI, told Euronews.
There is no season for tsunamis. We cannot predict where, when or how destructive the next tsunami will be. However, while tsunamis cannot be prevented, there are things you can do before, during and after a tsunami that could save your life and the lives of your family and friends.
If Poseidon is ever completed, it might be able to create a 300-foot tsunami. One arms-control expert described such a hypothetical weapon as "Putin's doomsday machine." But nuclear-weapons researchers have pointed out that an underwater bomb's explosive power and fallout would be less than a nuke detonated in the air.
The weapon is said to be able to travel large distances underwater, before exploding and causing a nuclear tsunami that could engulf coastal cities such as New York.
Seemingly not content with the seas alone, Poseidon often interfered in the plans of Zeus, and once even attempted to overthrow his brother with the aid of Hera and Athena. It was as punishment for this treachery that Poseidon was made to build the magnificent walls of Troy.
In January 2023, the Russian news agency TASS reported that Russia had produced the first set of nuclear-powered, very long range, nuclear-armed torpedoes known as “Poseidon.”
If a Poseidon nuclear torpedo were detonated off the coast of San Diego, how far inland would the tsunami travel? It wouldn't. It carries a cobalt warhead intended to contaminate the surrounding waters. The explosion isn't nearly large enough to create a tsunami.
Poseidon is an 'Intercontinental Nuclear-Powered Nuclear-Armed Autonomous Torpedo'. It is a giant torpedo which can hit coastal cities with devastating results. Compared to an intercontinental ballistic missile it is very slow, but possibly unstoppable.
The explosions weren't large enough to create more than small, pitiful waves—because it takes an incredible amount of energy to displace water on a tsunami scale. Human militaries have yet to build a device capable of doing so, despite their best efforts. The Tsar Bomba was the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated.
Drop, Cover, and Hold On. Drop to your hands and knees. Cover your head and neck with your arms. Hold on to any sturdy furniture until the shaking stops.
If you're too close to powerful tsunami waves, you're at risk of being dragged inshore onto hard land. Just like in drift diving – only much stronger and faster – there is the risk of crashing into underwater structures, being knocked unconscious or sustaining fatal blows.
The Poseidon Torpedo
Since it is nuclear-powered, the weapon boasts an increased speed of up to 70 knots (129 kilometers/80 miles per hour), making it very challenging to intercept underwater.
A lot of great technology was developed during the Cold War. Things like GPS, the internet and microchips were all developed as part of the arms-race tech boom. Unfortunately, so was the Novichok nerve agent, the world's largest nuclear weapon and Russia's doomsday device, just to name a few.
TASS said the main components of Poseidon, including a nuclear reactor to give the torpedo its own power source, had been successfully completed. The crew of the Belgorod nuclear submarine has also completed tests with models of the torpedo, TASS said.