Raising Atlantis

BBC News: The wave that destroyed Atlantis.

The legend of Atlantis, the country that disappeared under the sea, may be more than just a myth. Research on the Greek island of Crete suggests Europe's earliest civilisation was destroyed by a giant tsunami.  Until about 3,500 years ago, a spectacular ancient civilisation was flourishing in the Eastern Mediterranean.  The ancient Minoans were building palaces, paved streets and sewers, while most Europeans were still living in primitive huts.  But around 1500BC the people who spawned the myths of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth abruptly disappeared. Now the mystery of their cataclysmic end may finally have been solved. A group of scientists have uncovered new evidence that the island of Crete was hit by a massive tsunami at the same time that Minoan culture disappeared.

This theory is partly a result of the 2004 tsunami in Asia, analysis of destruction led to the idea that the Minoans faced a tsunami that wiped out their coastal cities, caused by a volcano north of Crete.