Reply #14: A lot of it has to do with the way they're laid. [View All]

[Xithras]

The bottom of the ocean is not flat, but is instead covered with canyons that make the Grand Canyon look small and mountain ranges that rival the Himalayas for sheerness and height. In spite of that, we largely run our undersea cables with little thought of what's down there. The ship cruises along, the cable is dropped off the back end, and nobody much cares if it has to loop over the top of a 10000 foot undersea mountain or span a thousand foot deep gorge. You end up with cables that are precariously placed, and it doesn't take much to snap those. One earthquake, small landslide, or errant anchor is all it takes to cut off communications for millions.