The Caribbean also has volcanoes, and now the prospect of tsunamis has again reared its head. Tsunamis are waves formed when huge masses of water are displaced by undersea volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. This creates a sea-surface slope so gentle that the wave usually passes unnoticed in deep water. The recent major eruptions at Montserrat have made people more aware than ever that this is a volcanic region. The islands of the Eastern Caribbean lie along the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc.
Volcanoes occur where the various moving plates which make up the Earth's surface meet.
The volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles arc are located along the edge where the South American Plate is pushing itself under the Caribbean Plate. The quay rose by one and a half meters or so, then dropped by the same. We were only on our second gin and tonic and realized that it was no hallucination as we sank and rose a couple more times. Two days later we sailed into Korcula to find it a disaster area, with big fishing boats high and dry on the quay, and shops with their fronts smashed in and high water marks up to their first floors. The sea had run out of the harbour, grounding all the boats.