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Possible 'Hazardous Event' At Mount St. Helens
babynerd writes "Seismologists believe there's an increased likelihood of a hazardous event at Mount St. Helens due to recent changes in the mountain's seismic activity. That increased activity on Sunday prompted the U.S. Geological Survey
and the University of Washington to release a "notice of volcanic unrest.""
People who live new the mountain shouldn't panic at all, because whatever the mountain does is unlikely to be very big.
One interesting thing (of many, really), however, is that St. Helens is one of the few fairly low latitude mountains in the Western hemisphere with a low-elevation glacier acumulating ice. The glacier is accumulating at only between about 6500 or 7000 feet.
That ice, however, if it were heated suddenly, could be one of the more notable volcanic hazards on the mountain. My instinct tells me it probably couldn't cause much damage because it would have to flow a long ways before reaching anything too critical, and over that distance the flood wave would be much attenuated, and there's really not much redevelopment (there wasn't too much development before the initial eruption either) downstream of the crater.
In the near vicinity of the crater rock fragments, ash, and small landslides might be possible, but only researchers are allowed in that area anyway, so these represent little threat to the general public.
Personally, I think it would be kind of neat to see some activity out of this volcano. It's pretty been quite for several years now. A rumble from St. Helens would certainly be better than an eruption from most other other Cascade volcanoes -- a sizeable eruption from Hood or Ranier could be very dangerous.
I live less than 100 miles away from Saint Hellens. The local news is reporting that there have been hundreds of small earthquakes per hour, and they havn't been like this since it blew in 1980. I can't wait to see what happens!
CNN is recently had a story about Mauna Loa showing signs of erupting. Mauna Loa is on the Big Island and hasn't erupted since 1984, although the well-known Kilauea volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983. Both of these volcanoes are located within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
It'll be interesting to see if volcanologists can use these events to hone their eruption prediction skills based on the increased seismology and more sensitive tracking equipment.
Sig cancelled due to lack of interest
So he can say its nothing to worry about. He hasnt had anything to worry about since it blew up in 80, carrying him and his cabin on the side of the mountain away without a trace.
I was living in N. CA in 80, and it cost me a windshield to turn on the wipers and wash/wipe away the dust that morning because I was in Salem OR at an aunts house at the time. Damn that stuff was abrasive. And it started the demise of the motor in my pickup because unknown to me, the factory recommended air filter did not actually fill the air cleaner, it left about an eight of an inch clearance above the paper element for dust to blow right on by.
Anyway, I hope the locals pay a bit more attention to the warnings this time, although memories can get faded in 24 years.
Cheers, Gene
In May of 1980 I was flying from Argentina, where I'd lived for two years with my family (I was 9). We stopped in Portland on our way home to Ohio so my dad could visit his oldest daughter. We arrived on May 20, two days after the eruption, and stayed for a week.
I remember some people walking around in gas masks, the grey skies, ash everywhere. Really trippy. Now I actually live in Portland. Maybe if St. Helens goes again I can get bragging rights over my brother in LA. "Earthquakes? Call me when there's 6 inches of ash on your car, pansy!"
This isn't as much "normalization" as it is "don't take so many drugs when you're designing tables."
If Hood goes, Portland probably goes too. I'm in Eugene, and if one of the Sisters goes in the winter, we're looking at some nasty flooding to come from Bend. Or, from what's left of Bend.
My take on it all: life's too short to worry about life being too short.
The middle mind speaks!
In the early 80s I knew a professional juggler, a guy who was unfortunately one of the campers who were in the area when it went off. He actually saw the explosion and was blown an undeterminable distance by the shock wave. His companions were presumably killed and their bodies never found. He was lucky to have been blown into a ravine and he climbed out of a pile of debris in a daze. Trees were on fire and chunks of ice and ash were raining down from the sky. He saw animals wandering around in a state of concussion from the huge shock.. He put some ice in a bandanna to make a face mask and hiked his way out, following the direction of the fallen trees. When I knew him, he was still struggling with the lung condition that he had gotten from inhaling the sharp, glass-like ash...
Pretty intense experience...