A disaster plan is in place should a tsunami strike Malta, the Civil Protection Department said, assuring people it was prepared for such an eventuality.

Scientists from the University of Portsmouth last week warned of the probability of a tidal wave hitting the island after they found evidence that, in the past, they had swept over Malta’s northeast coasts.

The CPD said it had a disaster master plan catering for such eventualities and it was also conducting a national risk assessment. It has also started discussions with the University of Malta for inclusion in a Mediterranean-based tsunami early warning system, available online.

Preliminary indications suggest that a tsunami originating from the south will have negligible impact on the islands given that they are protected by the relatively high cliffs.

A tsunami from the north will have a greater effect and may cause severe flooding without the initial wave impact because the distance between Sicily and Malta is not such to allow the wave to develop fully.

Of more concern are tsunami waves from north-northeast, northeast or east because there is ample distance for the wave to develop before hitting our shores.

“This said, it must be stressed that the chance of such an occurrence is very small and there is no cause to raise false alarms and the matter must be treated with caution and not alarm,” the spokesman insisted.