If there was a relatively advanced civilization somewhere in the area, a meteor strike and subsequent climate instability could definitely have brought it down. Ice sheets could easily have crushed any cities in the northern hemisphere without leaving much trace except from the oral traditions of more primitive peoples who managed to survive.
Problem is, that without solid evidence it's just guesswork.
King Atlas who was the king of the Mauri people shares a name with the King of Atlantis the Atlas Mountains are also in Africa and the Eye of the Sahara seems to match the ring structure of Atlantis as described by Plato.
Atlantis is likely a made-up story, for entertainment purposes, just as Hollywood has made a billion dollar business out of making up stories for entertainment. I wonder if historians in 1000 years will wonder where Frodo Baggins is buried, or how to get to the planet featured in Avatar.
How would a Paleolithic hunter/gatherer describe a neighboring tribe who developed certain tools and techniques far ahead of anyone else? A small town of wooden buildings and 400-500 people would seem a great marvel from that perspective.
Imagine there was such a tribe 12000 years ago. Now imagine a tsunami hitting that village and that hunter/gatherer describing the event to future generations. Imagine how that oral tradition would develop over the years until someone writes it down 4000 years later.