I think this is the most plausable possible history of Atlantis, it could of easily taken inspiration from such an event and most probably the demise of the Minoans and the Santorini eruption, evidence is starting to suggest that it caused a tsunami to sweep across the Med and flood Crete and its neighbouring isles destroying the Minoan coastal settlements (they were after all seatraders and fishermen and practically all lived on the coast).

So maybe Atlantis didn't sink but instead was temporarily flooded by a huge mass of water?

Well wouldn't ruins have been easy to find if they were so close to the surface somewhere? I mean if a tsunami wiped out Atlantis it would seem that there would still be an island or very large area of land just below the surface of the ocean.

I think a combination of a tsunami and an earthquake of some sort would make more sense. If the earth were to cave in under Atlantis then it could have essentially been swallowed into the ocean, and buried by itself and other earth from the quake, making it much more difficult to excavate, let alone find later on.

There are ruins all over the coast of Crete.

Do an image search for Palaikastro (maybe it is the story behind Atlantis)
It is on the eastern tip of Crete and was once a huge Minoan town that sits 10+metres above the sea level, an interesting feature of the ruins is that walls that are parrallel to the coast have almost been completely destroyed whilst those that follow the direction of Santorini (and 90* to the coast) are in considerably better condition. When water strikes a wall flat it pushes it over, when it strikes the end of the wall it flows around it. This can also be seen in the ruins of the Boxing day tsunami.
The geography, the dates and the circumstances produce a convincing theory for Atlantis although the mystery maybe better not solved as then it will no longer be a mystery.

That's some good stuff Bananas. I guess I like the idea of it being a "sunken city" rather than being simply a city wiped out by a tsunami. That's not as cool lol.

But you are right. There is something to leaving the mystery aspect out there instead of knowing for sure what happened. It's more fun to theorize than to know exactly what happened.

Palaikastro could simply be another city too though. It doesn't necessarily have to be THE Atlantis.

I do believe it existed. I mean really thinking about it, Im pretty sure we've only really explored some 7% of the whole ocean if I recall the statistical amount correctly.

I believe that Atlantis existed, but not on the scale that it has been romanticized over the centuries. I'm currently in my second semester of geology and it's interesting how the face of the Earth changes over thousands, millions, and billions of years. It is possible for an island to sink. There are examples of coral reefs that had grown around an island but the island sank (due to various geological reasons) and leave no trace, other than the ring of coral.

Atlantis is referred to as an advanced civilization. What the greeks, romans, etc viewed as "advanced" is, more than likely, different than what we consider advanced. Egyptians can be considered advanced for their ability to build the pyramids with such exact mathmetics. Many imagine Atlantis having a great weapon or some other "super technology". So, being referred to as "advanced" may have been the only way to describe something that Plato didn't exactly understand.

If I had to venture a guess, I would say that Atlantis was a civilization that was stationed on an island (exactly where, I cannot guess at this time) that was destroyed by an event such as an underwater earthquake or a volcanic eruption. It is plausible that the Atlantians wouldn't have fleed sooner because things such as Volcanoes were reverred as being "godly". If I remember correctly, Pompeii was discovered with the remains of its people buried in the ash that covered it. Many of those people died because they thought praying would stop the eruption instead of just escaping.

Not to mention, there are many areas of the world that is covered by ocean because of changes in sea level over the centuries. There is a phenomena known as the Blue Hole which is a 400+ foot deep hole in the ocean. It's nothing more than a cave that existed on dry land centuries ago that was ovretaken by the sea.

So, I think Atlantis existed but the true nature of the civilization has been overshadowed by romanticism.

I belive in it but that may be becase i'm a astros fan, but din't say it sunk after a day and night of misfortune so whold that like give them some sort of warning?