3 ms·

Why Mount Rainier is the US volcano keeping scientists up at night

59 points by amichail 2y ago

blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
> The snowcapped peak of Mount Rainier, which towers 4.3 kilometers (2.7 miles) above sea level in Washington state, has not produced a significant volcanic eruption in the past 1,000 years. Is it possible that other nearby eruptions (St Helens) are releasing the pressure that would otherwise cause an eruption at Rainier?
- mock-possum 2y ago
  Not in the last 1000 years, no, but - they do mention they think there have been 11 Lahar events originating from Ranier that have impacted the seattle area, over the past 6000 years - one of which doesn’t even seem to be associated with a volcanic eruption. At first I was like “why worry about Ranier when Hood is active” but - yeah the mother of all flash-floods is a horrifying prospect.
  - rdc12 2y ago
    Different volcano, but back in the 50's the natural tephra damn on the crater lake of Mount Ruapehu (New Zealand) collapsed triggering a lahar, that ultimately took out the piers of rail bridge near Tangiwai minutes before a passenger train tragically attempted to cross the bridge, resulting in mass casualty's. So certainly possible for non-expulsive activities to trigger a lahar and for consequences that sound like they are more from a disaster movie then real life to occur.
  - Vecr 2y ago
    How hard would it be to keep the thing drained at all times?
    - _nalply 2y ago
      You'll need to melt away the glaciers. Feasible? I am afraid not.
- EdwardDiego 2y ago
  I don't think so, as they have separate magma chambers AFAICT, although Mt St Helens does look like it shares its magma chamber with other nearby volcanoes.
mensetmanusman 2y ago
Would be interesting getting a text that pure destruction is approaching at 4 m/s and will reach your location in 30 minutes. Not sure what I would do. Wrap my car with metal, and hope for the best?
- LegitShady 2y ago
  Just throw some water and essentials in the car and drive in the other direction and don't insulate your car. 4 m/s is like 15 km/h - you can out drive it easily.
  - bluefirebrand 2y ago
    Somewhat important to note that if everyone does this it will likely overwhelm the roads and end up in gridlock
    - mensetmanusman 2y ago
      Yeah that’s what I was thinking, in which case what do you build to maximize survival in the mean time? Floating fluffy pods or something
      - LegitShady 2y ago
        a bicycle. throw a bicycle in a bike rack on your car. when you hit gridlock, bike further out.
nickpeterson 2y ago
I feel like the really scary prospect is the lager causing a dam failure. I’ve read a few articles from NYT talking about the potential for atmospheric rivers to overwhelm dams in california, causing a cascading collapse. From memory, the potential casualties are incredibly grim (like hydrogen bomb grim). I honestly don’t know what can be reasonably done though. The possibly range is too wide and the timeline too long.

59 points by amichail 2y ago

> The snowcapped peak of Mount Rainier, which towers 4.3 kilometers (2.7 miles) above sea level in Washington state, has not produced a significant volcanic eruption in the past 1,000 years. Is it possible that other nearby eruptions (St Helens) are releasing the pressure that would otherwise cause an eruption at Rainier?

mock-possum 2y ago
Not in the last 1000 years, no, but - they do mention they think there have been 11 Lahar events originating from Ranier that have impacted the seattle area, over the past 6000 years - one of which doesn’t even seem to be associated with a volcanic eruption. At first I was like “why worry about Ranier when Hood is active” but - yeah the mother of all flash-floods is a horrifying prospect.
- rdc12 2y ago
  Different volcano, but back in the 50's the natural tephra damn on the crater lake of Mount Ruapehu (New Zealand) collapsed triggering a lahar, that ultimately took out the piers of rail bridge near Tangiwai minutes before a passenger train tragically attempted to cross the bridge, resulting in mass casualty's. So certainly possible for non-expulsive activities to trigger a lahar and for consequences that sound like they are more from a disaster movie then real life to occur.
- Vecr 2y ago
  How hard would it be to keep the thing drained at all times?
  - _nalply 2y ago
    You'll need to melt away the glaciers. Feasible? I am afraid not.
EdwardDiego 2y ago
I don't think so, as they have separate magma chambers AFAICT, although Mt St Helens does look like it shares its magma chamber with other nearby volcanoes.

mensetmanusman 2y ago

Would be interesting getting a text that pure destruction is approaching at 4 m/s and will reach your location in 30 minutes. Not sure what I would do. Wrap my car with metal, and hope for the best?

LegitShady 2y ago
Just throw some water and essentials in the car and drive in the other direction and don't insulate your car. 4 m/s is like 15 km/h - you can out drive it easily.
- bluefirebrand 2y ago
  Somewhat important to note that if everyone does this it will likely overwhelm the roads and end up in gridlock
  - mensetmanusman 2y ago
    Yeah that’s what I was thinking, in which case what do you build to maximize survival in the mean time? Floating fluffy pods or something
    - LegitShady 2y ago
      a bicycle. throw a bicycle in a bike rack on your car. when you hit gridlock, bike further out.

nickpeterson 2y ago

I feel like the really scary prospect is the lager causing a dam failure. I’ve read a few articles from NYT talking about the potential for atmospheric rivers to overwhelm dams in california, causing a cascading collapse. From memory, the potential casualties are incredibly grim (like hydrogen bomb grim). I honestly don’t know what can be reasonably done though. The possibly range is too wide and the timeline too long.