A silly question about volcanic activity in Seattle (Tacoma, Sequim: houses, to buy)

[Anders15]

Hello my mother wanted to move to Seattle however she and I were watching Nat Geo the other day and saw this special on Volcanoes. They talked about St Helen's and another one in Seattle. They showed a graphic detailing how the city of Seattle is RIGHT OVER a active volcano chamber. They mentioned how you guys would only have 15 minutes if they were to erupt.

She is now horrified to move there. Does anyone have any information about the volcanoes that I can use to calm her down? We live on the east coast and we are usually slammed with hurricanes year after year. I told her if we were moving the opposite, west to east, she would be thinking we might get a Katrina or something. We also get RARE earthquakes here but very rear in Richmond VA. What are the odds of one of the volcanoes erupting anytime soon? I guess she thinks that one night a eruption will just blow Seattle out of the sky so any help would be great. Thanks.

[pw72]

Almost every part of the U.S. has natural disaster risks. Seattle is not over a volcanic fault, however it is over a seismic fault, which means there is an earthquake risk. As there is in California, Alaska, and parts of Oregon.

The volcanoes of the NW do erupt, but usually this is a rare event. Mt. Rainier is a danger, but mainly in the valleys of Pierce County, not Seattle. The odds of a Rainier eruption in any of our lifetimes is low.

Bottom line, you can't predict this kind of stuff. Natural disasters happen everywhere. My only advice would be to be aware of your surroundings, know what to do when emergencies strike, and not worry so much. Life is too short for that.

[allforcats]

Everything you and your mother could possibly want to know:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ml#post5310807

What are the odds of one of the volcanoes erupting anytime soon?
Well, they don't show up in things like weather reports, so if anyone could actually answer your question realistically, they'd make a fortune!

[eponabri]

You're thinking of Orting, not Seattle. I live in Sequim and we are in a Tsunami zone too. And we do have earthquakes from time to time, most of them no one ever feels.

Even if Rainier erupted today, it probably wouldn't affect Seattle directly, although there is a likelihood of Tsunami waves rushing down Puget Sound.

We have been hearing about warnings of the "Big One", meaning an large earthquake for more than 30 years now.

While Rainier is classified as an active volcano that last eruption was more than 100 years. That last massive eruption was more than 1,000 years ago.

When St. Helen's erupted, there was lots of notice, although most everyone ignored it. That was in 1980 and most of the area has recovered.

From everything I've read and studied, we need to be more concerned about an eruption at Yellowstone and glacial melting of the Arctic circle than worrying about Mt. Rainier. In fact, St. Helen's could erupt again before Rainier does anything.

I'd much rather be here with volcanoes and earthquakes than tornados and hurricanes. My family has lived in this area since the mid 1800's and I've lived here my whole life (nearly 60 years) and we're still here.

If Rainier was going to erupt it would be all over CNN not just on Discovery Channel specials.

[LongDawson]

It's very serious. I was here on May 18 1980 and saw the mushroom cloud from my back yard. I always remember May 18 every year. I think anyone who takes a basic geology class knows we are all sitting on ground ready to BLOW, at any moment. Such is life. You can do things as "damage control".

In local terms a lot of people talk about "lahar", which is a post-eruption mud flow. Basically, mountain lakes break and cause 12 feet of mud to cover everything. There is a map, perhaps linked above, that shows what will happen when we get a lahar. Be sure to get that map, you can find it online. It was produced by local agencies. Never live in the lahar danger area if you can help it. I would never buy any land in the areas noted as danger for lahar. Orting is the big one. But there are other areas, going all the way to Tacoma, but following a certain path. As mentioned above, Seattle is not part of that map. It is Pierce County mostly.

But we are in a highly dangerous earthquake zone. Newer homes are built to protect as much as possible.

Make your house earthquake-proof. It is not very expensive, as far as I know. If you want to buy a house, think what would happen if a 9 earthquake happens. If it's up on stilts on a hillside, and you have doubts, look into it further.

People who tell you to just forget about the danger are stupid. It is a real issue.

[Ira500]

Absolutely! Some parts of Pierce County will likely get buried if Mt. Rainier erupts, and some of these are places where they slapped up many, many houses over the last few years.
But Seattle is much more likely to be destroyed in an earthquake rather than a volcanic eruption.

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Seattle is much more likely to be destroyed in an earthquake rather than a volcanic eruption.

Exciting!! -- just another proof to us that facts are facts, and the only thing that matters is how we choose to react to them.

Isn't it a fascinating journey we're all on, living on Earth where geophysical annihilation is a pretty constant possibility only very marginally predictable -- so it's up to each of us to choose every moment to live in a state of joy, so that no moment is wasted and each moment is savored, feeding joy to the next moment? Yum!!

[yukiko11]

I can't think of any state in the nation that isn't under some kind of natonal disaster threat. I would say in Western Washington the number 1 is earthquake followed by Tsunami flooding from an earthquake on the other side of the ocean. We do have several volcanoes here, however a volcano will usually announce itself ahead of time with a series of earthquakes, and smoke puffs, ect.
Only you know what you can tolerate and you have to choose. Your mother needs to have the inforamtion, first shap

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Exciting!! -- just another proof to us that facts are facts, and the only thing that matters is how we choose to react to them.

Isn't it a fascinating journey we're all on, living on Earth where geophysical annihilation is a pretty constant possibility only very marginally predictable -- so it's up to each of us to choose every moment to live in a state of joy, so that no moment is wasted and each moment is savored, feeding joy to the next moment? Yum!!

Amen sister!

[70Ford]

Well, at least we'll be in good shape for it. If it's anything like that snowstorm we had, we're good to go. And we have snowstorms more often than big earthquakes.

Now that I've got the sarcasam-o-tron in full startup mode, if Seattle ever does have a major natural disaster, we're all doomed. Seriously. A few inches of snow jacknifed the city for a week.
We'd all be in our homes, drinking water from the toilet and chewing our shoes, while listening to our officials on the radio talking about how "Streets are being cleared" and "I'll give them a B grade."

I'm not keeping my hopes up, that's for sure. I really pity/feel for the people on the islands. If they're not stocked up, they're going to be eating each other. You think I'm kidding. Bridges will be gone. No gas. No water. No electricity. No nothing.

DOOMED. DOOMED, I SAY.