Hidden Undersea Avalanches Are A Big Problem For The Internet

Underwater avalanches are powerful natural events that happen all the time under the surface of the ocean. They are impossible to see and extremely difficult to measure, which means we know little about how they work. Yet these phenomena pose a hazard to our global communication networks. The proliferation of the internet has required an ever-expanding network of fibre-optic seabed cables, which carry practically all global internet traffic. My new study of an ancient underwater avalanche challenges our understanding of how underwater avalanches develop and may change the way geologists assess their risk potential. It is estimated that there are…