Does Oregon experience natural disasters/problems as much as other Western states? (Portland: homes, find a job)

[ak.nessa]

The entire Central and Eastern regions of Oregon (everything east of the Cascade mountains) is much safer than the valley. You are far enough from the coast which means you are safe from tsunamis (yes, Oregon coastal towns can get tsunamis), it rains a lot less (less flooding -Portland area suffers flooding from time to time, mudslides galore throughout the Willamette Valley - including Salem and Eugene - it's VERY WET and rainy! thus very muddy), and the only volcanoes to worry about east of the cascades are the Sisters Mtns. If you live in Portland you are sitting extremely close to Mt. Hood which IS AN ACTIVE VOLCANO, due to erupt within the next 90 years or so, which will completely obliterate nearby communities and give us some pretty crazy earthquakes. Portland gets a fair amount of earthquakes, though typically they aren't too severe. There will be lava when Hood erupts, not just ash and smoke! So I don't recommend Portland or Hood River or anything in that area, if you're afraid of volcanoes, earthquakes, floods.

I think one of the safest places to live in the whole country would be anywhere AWAY from mountains, east of Bend, Oregon and west of Wyoming. There are wildfires out there (because it is a desert and very dry, hot summers), but your house wont catch on fire if you clear brush away from your home. Oregon has a variety of environments - beaches, forests (many diff kinds of forests too), mountains, deserts (diff kinds of deserts too), lots of different options depending on what you're most afraid of!

I prefer Central Oregon because the only threats are: drought and fire. These are not very big deals though. Madras seems to suffer the most fire damage. I don't think drought could ever be a huge issue because of all the rivers, lakes, and streams all over the state (including Central Oregon - they have MANY lakes and a few BIG rivers). But who knows! Let's just hope that when something horrible happens we are NOT in the place where it happens!!!!!!!!!

[ak.nessa]

If you live in Oregon you should be much more worried about MT HOOD, because ST HELENS may have dumped ash on us, but MT HOOD WILL DUMP LAVA! Not to mention plenty of earthquakes!

[pw72]

Sorry, but where are you getting this information? I have never seen any written account of what you are describing. Lava? The Cascade volcanoes are all similar in their consequences. Lava has not been a strong characteristic of this mountain range. Ash and mudflows, yes. Lava, no. Please provide evidence. (BTW, when St. Helens erupted there was some lava flow, but it was miniscule compared to the ash, mudflow, and landslide damage).

[Sign]

Originally Posted by pw72

Sorry, but where are you getting this information? I have never seen any written account of what you are describing. Lava? The Cascade volcanoes are all similar in their consequences. Lava has not been a strong characteristic of this mountain range. Ash and mudflows, yes. Lava, no. Please provide evidence. (BTW, when St. Helens erupted there was some lava flow, but it was miniscule compared to the ash, mudflow, and landslide damage).

MANY parts of the Central Cascades of Oregon have LAVA beds. Areas of major amounts of lava rock exist around McKenzie Pass and just south of Bend too.

[Silverfall]

You all are going to freak people out. We have 5 active volcanos in Oregon.
Dynamic Map Oregon Volcanoes

Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, 3 sisters, Newberry Calderra, and Crater Lake. Most of Western Oregon and the Bend area would be affected by a volcanic eruption.

If someone is terrified of Volcano's Oregon is not the place for them, but our Volcanos' are not like Hawaii. None of us know what would come spewing out. Let's not freak people out about it.

I have lived in the valley for 20 years and felt an earthquake once. Seriously it knocked a vase off a table and lasted about 10 seconds. Earthquakes occur daily in Oregon and are rarely felt.

[Terryj]

When you look at the lava flows around the Bend area and southern Cascades around Crater Lake area, I would have to say, yes, they do produce lava. Just take the drive from White City to Klamath Falls on hwy 140 and count the lava flows, you'll be suprised.

[pw72]

Originally Posted by Sign

MANY parts of the Central Cascades of Oregon have LAVA beds. Areas of major amounts of lava rock exist around McKenzie Pass and just south of Bend too.

OK, I must backtrack a bit. Yes, there have definitely been lava flows from the Cascades, but my point was that the more imminent danger, and much more common danger, is ash and mudflows. Thanks for the historical correction, however. I once drove over the old McKenzie pass highway, and can't believe I didn't remember the huge lava evidence alongside the highway. Is there any such evidence in Washington? (Not as a challenge, just a question...)

[Sign]

Originally Posted by Terryj

When you look at the lava flows around the Bend area and southern Cascades around Crater Lake area, I would have to say, yes, they do produce lava. Just take the drive from White City to Klamath Falls on hwy 140 and count the lava flows, you'll be suprised.

There's no doubt that there are hundreds, if not, thousands of acres of lava beds in and near the Cascades....esp. the central and southern Oregon area.
In many places, these lava rock beds are 40-50 feet high and go as far as you can see......like:
McKenzie Pass and around the Newberry Crater, LAVA Butte (south of Bend), etc.
Mt. Bachelor looks like a true volcano and Crater Lake (southern Cascades)....is the caldera of what was once, Mt. Mazama......10,000 years ago, I believe.
Blew its stack and left a gorgeous, clear, deep, blue lake.

Either way.....LAVA.....EXISTS from volcanic activity in Oregon.

[mwruckman]

I have a good book called "Fire and Ice: The Cascades Volcanos by Steven Harris which discusses volcanic hazards and the greatest hazards are Mts Lassen (Lassen erupted in 1912)and Shasta (Shastina erupted about 300 years ago) in N California. Several craters and volcanos in Central Oregon Cascades (Three Sisiters , MacKenzie Pass, Newberry Crater) Some of the MacKenzie Pass lava flows occured only 700 years ago. Mt Hood last produced an Ashfall in the 1850s. We all know about St Helens and another volcano that gives the him the creeps is Mt Rainier. Rainier has large glaciers and is prone to mudflows called lahars one 5700 years ago reached Tacoma and one only 500 years ago burried the town of Orting WA. The Cascades are pretty active so one might see volcanism in an averge human lifetime. Where theres volcanoes all in a line there is usually a subduction zone just like Sumatra and Java in Indonesia. The last big earthquake off of the Pacfic NW was in 1701 and it produced tsunamis recorded in Japan and probably 30 m (100ft) high on the Washington and Oregon coasts. The quake also caused huge landslides in the Columbia Gorge.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by mwruckman

Rainier has large glaciers and is prone to mudflows called lahars one 5700 years ago reached Tacoma and one only 500 years ago burried the town of Orting WA.

Let's just note that neither of those towns were there at those respective times. (i.e. Orting couldn't have really been buried if it wasn't there).