Photo courtesy of M. Hornbach
On the Pacific island Tongatapu a line of enormous coral boulders hundreds of feet from the sea is said by local legend to have been flung ashore by the god Maui in an attempt to kill a giant man-eating fowl.
But now scientists think that the seven boulders, which are up to 30 feet high and weigh as much as 3.5 million pounds, were hurled 300 to 1,300 feet inland by a giant tsunami triggered by a powerful underwater volcano.
"The house-sized boulders were likely flung ashore by a wave rivaling the 1883 Krakatau tsunami, which is estimated to have towered 35 meters (115 feet) high," University of Texas researchers said today.
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