Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s disaster-drama series ‘La Palma,’ one family finds itself battling the forces of nature to ensure its survival. Frederick and Jennifer come to the picturesque island of La Palma in the Canary Islands to spend their Christmas. It is a family ritual they have practiced for several years, but the dynamics between the family have shifted drastically since the previous year. It seems that the dynamics of the island also seem to have changed considerably, so much so that the possibility of a tsunami could be right around the corner. Created by Martin Sundland, Lars Gudmestad, and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, the show follows the family’s quest for survival. It is made more harrowing by the fact that it uses real scientific theories to back its claim of the terrifying tsunami.
The Volcano and the Possibility of Tsunami in La Palma Are Real
‘La Palma’ is an entirely fictional series with made-up characters and their tragic but unreal fates. The premise of the tsunami, however, is not so far-fetched. In fact, the theory of a tsunami of the scale, as seen in the show, has been around for a while. The story is set on the real-life island of La Palma, which happens to be a major tourist destination. The island houses the Cumbre Vieja volcano, whose eruption over the years has caused ridges that give rise to the tsunami theory. The last time the volcano erupted was in 2021, and the natural disaster went on for 85 days, making it the longest-known eruption in La Palma’s history. Thousands of people were relocated, and several towns were destroyed, with damage of an estimated 843 million euros inflicted by the natural disaster.
In real life, La Palma has been hypothesized to be at risk of breaking off into the ocean due to the landslides that have occurred there over the years, aided by volcanic activity over the years. This breaking off could, hypothetically, trigger a tsunami, and it’s not a far-fetched thought because such landslides have been known to cause small-scale tsunamis in different parts of the world, though at a significantly low recurrence rate. The theory about the “mega-tsunami” was postulated in 2001 in a research paper that suggested that La Palma was at risk of collapsing, especially considering the ridges that had formed all over the island due to the volcanic eruption, notably after 1949. They further suggested that the tsunami waves could go up to as high as 80 feet.
According to their estimate, the effects of tsunamis would not be localized. Still, they might ripple through the ocean to reach across the pond and impact the eastern coastline of North America and maybe even South America. While the part about the landslide and the tsunami has been widely accepted, the scale of the tsunami has been debated in the scientific community. It is believed that the size of the tsunami has been exaggerated, and it would easily decay before reaching the coast of North and South America. While the damage in La Palma and its surrounding areas would be catastrophic, several factors, like the continental shelves, would reduce its size to a mere 3-7 feet by the time it touched North America.
The Show References Real Events and Science to Create a Captivating Narrative
While there have been a lot of movies and shows about natural disasters, it is the ones that are terrifying, real, or close to reality that hit the sweet spot. The creators of ‘La Palma’ were aware of this, which is why they dove into research about the place and the science of the hypothetical tsunami to create a story that would not only entertain the audience but also make them scared by its proximity to reality. For this, they have referenced several real-life events, like the 2004 tsunami, which is woven into the backstory of Marie Ekdal. Another real-life event is referenced in the series when the scientists in La Palma start talking about letting the public know of the tsunami’s possibility. Their superior, Alvaro, refuses to do it because he also talked about it when the volcano erupted the last time and was labeled “crying wolf” because nothing of the sort happened.
Alvaro and his warnings that don’t amount to anything are entirely fictional and are used as a plot device to keep the danger heightened and remove the possibility of a mass evacuation, which would do away with all the drama that drives the show. To add another layer of realism, the creators decided to shoot the series on the real La Palma island, including the island of Tenerife, which also makes an appearance in the later episodes. They even used the real airport that had been heavily affected by the volcanic eruption of 2021. Apart from this, the creators have also made sure that the family and other characters at the center of the story are drawn realistically so that the audience feels invested in their fates and roots for them, even though the odds are terrifyingly stacked against them.
Read More: La Palma Ending, Explained: Does Sara’s Family Survive the Tsunami?
