Mt. St. Helens - potential activity?

[Bob]

Mt. St. Helens sits on the ring of fire - recently there have been a LOT of activity showing up with the volcanoes on this ring which travels from Indonesia in the west to Chile in the east, up and through the Aleutian Islands, down the coast of Vancouver/USA/Pan America, and South America.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6152440/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/st-helens-part-volcanic-ring-fire/

and

http://dailydigestnews.com/2014/05/mount-st-helens-is-fueling-up-but-there-is-no-danger-yet/

No danger, yet... they say..

BUT

here is what they say:

"Mount St. Helens, located in Washington, is probably the best known active volcano in the United States. The 1980 eruption was the most serious, in terms of lives lost and economic damage, in U.S. history.

Although far less damaging, the mountain has erupted as recently as 2008. It is not surprising then that people, especially those who live near the mountain, get nervous when it shows signs of activity.

However, no eruption is imminent and it could be a very long time before anything happens, according to the agencies charged with monitoring volcanic activity.

In the Cascade Volcano Authority’s (CVO) weekly update, the agency states that all volcanos in the Cascade region of Washington and Oregon are displaying normal seismicity.

“All the volcanoes were relatively quiet seismically and exhibited only typical background activity. The stage on regional rivers, which had been elevated owing to storms, has been slowly but steadily declining.

"The Cascades Volcano Observatory issued an information statement on 30 April 2014 summarizing geodetic- and seismological evidence for re-pressurization of the magma reservoir beneath Mount St. Helens since 2008. There is no evidence to suggest that this re-pressurization portends an imminent eruption,” reads the statement.

“The balloon has inflated, and it could stay inflated for decades. What we can say, is when it is ready to erupt, we will know,” the CVO’s Seth Moran told Live Science.

According to the CVO’s website, current volcanic monitoring relies on a variety of sensitive instruments placed in and around active volcanos. However, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has proposed a new early warning system which they believe would be a significant upgrade."


http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/041001/041001_sthelens_hmed_1227.grid-6x2.jpg

[wnlight]

Bobd,
i only asked two Mt Saint Helens questions in meditation today. "Will it blow its top in the next six years?" "No." and "Will Mt Saint Helens have a serious eruption within the next 100 years?" "No." However, MT Rainier is a different story. "Will MT Rainier blow in the year 2020 causing much more loss of lives than did Mt Saint Helens in 1980?" "Yes." "Are the potentials of that happening high?" "Yes."

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

The crap thing about Rainier, is that should a flank be exposed, i.e. rockfall and magma heating the surface, when snow falls over that region -- it causes a phenom known as a lateral blast. I was PMing Bob about those, lol.

But it can be caused by something as innocuous as snow falling on cedars. Haha so to speak.
If a small earthquake exposed part of the flanks of Rainier, and those hot spots were facing the Seattle/Tacoma area, the lateral blast would devastate the town.
And any Lahars generated by the mud/ice/snowmelt/magma mixture would undoubtedly be deadly in the extreme.

We were talking recently about a city in South America, about 25,000 people buried alive in a matter of minutes.
Within the last 100 years.

Seattle really wasn't built on a very good spot, considering they did put some highrise buildings, and when the Fire in the 1890s displaced the poor -- the brick buildings that went up in the place of wood are gonna be kind of bad news in an eruption/quake.

Even if the buildings don't fall immediately, they could shift, and then we'd have blocks and blocks of condemned brick tenements etc.


Would be very ugly if ANYTHING happened on that mountain.

[MargueriteBee]

I used to live 45 miles due west of the mountain (Rainier). Glad I don't now.

[sirdipswitch]

Every tall mountain, that pokes its' top above the surounding terrain, is a volcano, and poses a threat. hmm.

[Bob]

Bobd,
i only asked two Mt Saint Helens questions in meditation today. "Will it blow its top in the next six years?" "No." and "Will Mt Saint Helens have a serious eruption within the next 100 years?" "No." However, MT Rainier is a different story. "Will MT Rainier blow in the year 2020 causing much more loss of lives than did Mt Saint Helens in 1980?" "Yes." "Are the potentials of that happening high?" "Yes."

Hia WnLight - I've been watching the volcanic activity from Ecuador north and southwards, and then following the Ring of Fire activity (of which those mountains/volacanoes in the upper NW sit). My feeling is there is a slow oscillating wave vibrating back and forth, right now about a day and a half impulse, which is moving the magma around. I saw this with the Ecuadorian volcanoes which changed their signature eruptions/activity ever since the 8.2m Chilean quake April 1, 2014. As we know, the big quake off Eureka California and the one up by Vancouver Island, BC are showing that something apparently is allowing things to "slip". Possibly that would be magma increases.

What caught my attention in the OP data, was they were saying that the magma cavity has refilled and was starting to buldge, although not very much at the moment, it had refilled. The magma came from somewhere..

I would not be surprised to see new activity in other mountains/old volcanoes on the Ring of Fire.

Bob

References: http://rt.com/usa/eathquakes-ring-fire-pacific-145/ - Ring of Fire activity concerns folks in the Pacific Cascades

'Ring of Fire' fears renewed following earthquakes in California, Chile and Panama"


http://img.rt.com/files/news/24/a8/10/00/chile-6.si.jpg


"Experts don’t think that a series of quakes in recent days are related to one another, but all seem to agree that three major incidents in both North and South America share at least one common bond: each quake and their subsequent aftershocks were located along the circum-Pacific seismic belt, or “Ring of Fire,” where scientists with the United States Geological Survey say 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur.

"The magnitude-5.1 quake near Los Angeles, California last Friday may be thousands of miles away from the epicenters in Chile and Panama associated with the events on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but their positions on the Ring of Fire put them into an a special category of quakes that include the one that shook Japan in 2011 and caused the major tsunami that contributed to the meltdown at the nuclear plant in Fukushima responsible for roughly 16,000 deaths. Around 81 of the world’s largest earthquakes, the USGS says, occur along the Ring of Fire.

"According to seismologists, the Chile quake occurred because of activity involving two major tectonic plates that share a roughly 7,000-mile-long boundary beneath the eastern Pacific Ocean and are considered part of the Ring of Fire. The USGS says that that quake was caused when the massive Nazca plate slipped eastward underneath the continental crust of South America."

[Bob]

Cascades Volcanic Observatory reports - 4 May 14

http://cc.amazingcounters.com/counter.php?i=3190880&c=9572953


http://chanlo.com/images/cascades-volcanoes.jpg

There are 10 active (but not erupting) volcanoes in this region as marked above, and 17 volcanic fields (where past activity over the eons has occurred).

This region does sit on the Ring of Fire, that travels from south America, Chile, northwards thru Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, The Pan American region, Mexico, up through California, the Aleutian Islands, Japan and southwards toward Indonesia. Numerous continental plates apply pressure and heat to this massive region, resulting in quakes, volcanic eruptions. Solar activity of a certain style has been noted to coincide with activity. Therefore the Ring of Fire activity is being monitored and any noteworthy changes when they are noticed are being mentioned.

ref: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/cvo/ is the Cascades regional monitoring observatory, which has reports and an elaborate sensor system for monitoring.

May 01, 2014

Living with Volcanoes: How a South American Town May Save Lives around Mount Rainier.

During the month of May, residents are encouraged to take the necessary steps to find out about volcanic hazards where they live, work and play, and how to survive and recover from the next eruption.

Washington Emergency Preparedness Division LINK (http://www.emd.wa.gov/hazards/haz_volcano.shtml) for emergency readiness for Volcanic Activity, what to do

Monitoring Techniques Provide Insight into Mount St. Helens Behavior
April 30, 2014
Mount St. Helens, as viewed from Elk Rock.
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/images/image_mngr/1300-1399/img1382_250w_167h.jpg

Slowly emerging patterns of behavior at Mount St. Helens are giving scientists at the USGS-Cascades Volcano Observatory and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network new insights into activity beneath the volcano. Since the end of the 2004-2008 dome-building eruption, scientists have been monitoring subtle inflation of the ground surface and minor earthquake activity that is reminiscent of that seen in the years prior to the 2004-2008 eruption.

Horizontal displacement vectors for GPS stations at Mount St. Helens (2008-2014)
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/images/image_mngr/1400-1499/img1439_695w_899h.jpg

Careful analysis of these two lines of evidence now gives us confidence to say that the magma reservoir beneath Mount St. Helens has been slowly re-pressurizing since 2008. It is likely that re-pressurization is caused by arrival of a small amount of additional magma 4-8 km (2.5-5 miles) beneath the surface. This is to be expected while Mount St. Helens is in an active period, as it has been since 1980, and it does not indicate that the volcano is likely to erupt anytime soon.

[Bob]

Updates from Washington's Emergency Preparedness network -
http://cc.amazingcounters.com/counter.php?i=3190880&c=9572953

Background:

Washington’s volcanoes will erupt again, as shown by activity at Mount St. Helens, which began another eruptive phase in the fall of 2004. Because people are moving into areas near these mountains at a rapid pace, the state’s volcanoes are among the most dangerous in the United States.

Volcanoes

Mount Baker in Whatcom County erupted in the mid-1800s for the first time in several thousand years. Activity at steam vents in Sherman Crater, near the volcano's summit, increased in 1975 and is still vigorous, but there is no evidence that an eruption is imminent.

Glacier Peak in Snohomish County has erupted at least sixtimes in the past 4,000 years. An especially powerful series of eruptions about 13,000 years ago deposited volcanic ash at least as far away as Wyoming.

Mount Rainier in Pierce County is one of the most hazardous volcanoes in the United States. It has produced at least four eruptions and numerous lahars in the past 4,000 years. It is capped by more glacier ice than the rest of the Cascades volcanoes combined, and Rainier's steep slopes are under constant attack from hot, acidic volcanic gases and water. These factors make this volcano especially prone to landslides and lahars. More than 150,000 people live on former lahars in river valleys below the volcano.

Mount St. Helens in Skamania County is the most frequently active volcano in the Cascades. During the past 4,000 years, it has produced many lahars and a wide variety of eruptive activity, from relatively quiet outflows of lava to explosive eruptions much larger than that of May 18, 1980. Its current eruption began in September 2004.

Mount Adams in Yakima County has produced few eruptions during the past several thousand years. This volcano's most recent activity was a series of small eruptions about 1,000 years ago followed by a debris avalanche and lahar that inundated part of the Trout Lake lowland less than 500 years ago.

Additionally, Oregon’s Mount Hood, about 50 miles southeast of Portland, poses some threat to areas of Southwest Washington along the Columbia River. Mount Hood has erupted repeatedly for thousands of years, most recently during two episodes in the past 1,500 years; the last eruption ended shortly before the arrival of Lewis and Clark in 1805. Mount Hood, and other volcanoes in British Columbia, Oregon, and California, can produce tephra will would fall on and affect Washington. The April 2005 USGS assessment states the threat posed by Mount Hood also is very high.

[wnlight]

Bobd,

Well, we are coming from different directions to similar conclusions. All ten of the Cascade mountains that you listed will erupt within the next 50 years, but Mt Rainier will in the year 2020. As you know, these mountains don't erupt gently like do the Hawaiian volcanoes. The Cascades explode! And in the case of Mt Rainier, I see lahar being the most destructive force. The mountain has a nasty history of lahars.

BTW, we should not ignore Mt Shasta and Mt Lassen which will also blow within the next 50 years. Actually, Mt Shasta will explode in 2020. Back in 1968, I went swimming in Crater Lake. Was it COLD! And such a big hole. Its hard to believe, but it also will blow again. I have set foot on nearly all of these hills and truly enjoyed their beauty. Even Mt Lassen has regained it beauty. I hate to think of them going POP and hurting so many people - but it will happen. My sources are spiritual. For confirmation, just watch what is happening on the Earth now. Even flatland Oklahoma now has quake warnings.

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

The bit about how much snow is on Rainier is a mind-blower.
The bit about 150,000 people in the paths of Lahars is horrific.

I am so glad we moved away from there. lol

p.s. in the 'screenplay' (rofl) -- imagine being on I-5 going into Seattle from the north. and the Lahar's rolling in, and the traffic stops -- stuck on the bridge over the lake, right? watching the Lahar come into downtown, totally covering some buildings, lol -- space needle a bit slower to knock down but eventually does fall...

hissing and steam as the lahars hit the lake, fog rolls in, darkness...
screams and cars hitting the water... yikes!

a boat on the edge of the lake almost out of the path but at the last second, sucked in....

lol

MORBID!!!

[Bob]

Along the ring of fire, further north and westward from the Cascades, 3 volcanoes are now on an elevated alert. See below


ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE
Saturday, May 10, 2014 11:31 AM PDT (Saturday, May 10, 2014 18:31 UTC)


SHISHALDIN VOLCANO (VNUM #311360)
54°45'19" N 163°58'16" W, Summit Elevation 9373 ft (2857 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

Elevated surface temperatures continue to be evident in satellite data. These observations are consistent with ongoing low-level eruptive activity, mostly contained within the summit crater. Webcam images of the volcano were cloudy over the past day. AVO has received no reports of activity over the past 24 hours, and we have yet to observe any significant ash emissions.


http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/NGSPOD/102930-FB~Shishaldin-Volcano-one-of-many-active-volcanoes-in-the-Aleutian-Chain-Posters.jpg

VENIAMINOF VOLCANO (VNUM #312070)
56°11'52" N 159°23'35" W, Summit Elevation 8225 ft (2507 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: ADVISORY
Current Aviation Color Code: YELLOW

Seismicity remains slightly above background levels. Satellite images showed weakly elevated surface temperatures consistent with cooling lava flows over the past 24 hours. Webcam images showed light gas and steam emissions from the intracaldera cone.

CLEVELAND VOLCANO (VNUM #311240)
52°49'20" N 169°56'42" W, Summit Elevation 5676 ft (1730 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: ADVISORY
Current Aviation Color Code: YELLOW