Holiday hotspots could be devastated by a Mediterranean tsunami. Maps reveal 130 million lives at risk from once-a-century phenomenon

  • Scientists modelled the effect of earthquakes off coasts of Sicily and Crete 
  • Large tsunami waves would spread across the Mediterranean in minutes
  • The say up to 1.5 sq miles (3.8sq km) of Crete would be left under the water
  • Large areas of densely populated coastline would be hit by the waves

A large tsunami in the Mediterranean could engulf many popular holiday hotspots and threaten the lives of 130 million people living along the sea's busy coastlines, a new study has revealed.
Researchers examining the impact of earthquakes off the north coast of Africa have simulated the impact of the devastating waves one might trigger.
They found that if an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit off the coasts of eastern Sicily in Italy and southern Crete in Greece, it would leave large areas of the coastline under water.