U.S. Cities  

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
Register Blogs Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Seattle area Seattle and King County Suburbs

Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads.

Get a detailed profile
Search Forums  (Advanced)
Business Search - 14 Million verified businesses
Search for:  near: 
Reply


 
Old 05-16-2009, 08:59 PM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Richmond VA
674 posts, read 458,422 times
Reputation: 103
Anders15 will become famous soon enoughAnders15 will become famous soon enoughAnders15 will become famous soon enough
Thumbs up A silly question about volcanic activity in Seattle

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.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-16-2009, 09:16 PM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rocky Mountain West, native Seattleite
1,374 posts, read 947,484 times
Reputation: 361
pw72 is just really nicepw72 is just really nicepw72 is just really nicepw72 is just really nicepw72 is just really nicepw72 is just really nicepw72 is just really nicepw72 is just really nice
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.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-16-2009, 10:06 PM
Visitor from Planet Quatt =^..^=
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Cosmic Consciousness
3,862 posts, read 3,521,111 times
Reputation: 1812
allforcats has a brilliant future
allforcats has a brilliant future
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!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2009, 12:20 AM
Senior Member
Status: "I think winter has come to the Pacific Northwest" (set 21 days ago)
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Sequim, WA
181 posts, read 115,602 times
Blog Entries: 4
Reputation: 58
eponabri will become famous soon enougheponabri will become famous soon enough
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.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2009, 01:21 AM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
194 posts, read 110,512 times
Reputation: 65
LongDawson will become famous soon enoughLongDawson will become famous soon enough
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.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2009, 11:21 AM
Real Estate Agent
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
3,433 posts, read 2,529,260 times
Reputation: 977
Ira500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to beholdIra500 is a splendid one to behold
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.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2009, 11:57 AM
Visitor from Planet Quatt =^..^=
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Cosmic Consciousness
3,862 posts, read 3,521,111 times
Reputation: 1812
allforcats has a brilliant future
allforcats has a brilliant future
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira500 View Post
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!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2009, 12:47 PM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
1,124 posts, read 392,303 times
Blog Entries: 5
Reputation: 870
yukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to beholdyukiko11 is a splendid one to behold
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
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2009, 02:46 PM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Cascadia
1,338 posts, read 766,532 times
Reputation: 488
backdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of lightbackdrifter is a glorious beacon of light
Quote:
Originally Posted by allforcats View Post
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!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-17-2009, 04:13 PM
Oh, yeah!
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Warm, sunny Iraq.
2,089 posts, read 1,585,848 times
Reputation: 1161
70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of70Ford has much to be proud of
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.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.



Reply


Quick Reply
Message:

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Similar Threads


Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:15 AM.

Copyright © 2005-2009, Advameg, Inc.

City-Data.com - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 - Top