The topic of tidal waves and tsunamis has been analyzed since the earliest studies, taking into account the three main types of event that can trigger them.
Tidal waves in general, including the one that struck Messina following the 1908 earthquake, are generally produced by three types of event:

• Earthquakes with an epicenter at sea or on land near the coast, such as the 1908 Strait of Messina earthquake and the February 5, 1783, earthquake in the Gioia Tauro Plain.
• Volcano-tectonic events, including explosions, caldera rim collapses, and the collapse of accumulated deposits, occurring in the Aeolian arc or Tyrrhenian submarine volcanoes such as the Marsili and Vavilov Mountains. The tsunami that struck Stromboli on December 30, 2002, was triggered by the collapse of the Sciara del Fuoco.
• Large landslides of coastal slopes or underwater escarpments, such as the Mount Pacì landslide near Scilla on February 6, 1783, which was triggered by a secondary earthquake following the main event in the Gioia Tauro Plain the previous day.

The Bridge’s vital structures are not exposed to any risk—even during construction—as:

• the cables, anchors, and deck are beyond the reach of waves, as they are positioned at heights exceeding 60 meters above sea level;
• the towers, designed to withstand seismic forces and wind, have solid, deeply embedded foundations and would remain unaffected even by waves exceeding the heights in question.