There is also New Madrid Fault for potential disasters. And Yellowstone.

We're all gonna die!

Now that Miss USA is a bikini-wearing, pole-dancing Muslim, this will probably happen sooner...

Actually there have been times in the past that Mt. Rainier has prety much obliterated the land where Seattle is now. It's all the luck of the draw. We could see another eruption like the one that sent hundreds of feet of mud down the Duwamish all the way to Elliot Bay, and shot rocks the size of cars all over western Washington and as far away as Vancouver, B.C..

But if we are going to obsess about geology, Yellowstone is the big contender in this country. It's capable of burying much of the plains in many feet of ash and blowing so much bad gas and big rocks all over several states that we'd face massive losses of life, trillions in destroyed property and a rebuilding process taking decades, if we could find the resources to do it at all.

The Mississippi Delta is bits of the Rocky Mountsins carried by water, and bits of Yosemite blown into the plains then washed along the waterways to the sea. Google also the current doomed attempt to keep the Atchafalaya River from capturing the Mississippi and moving it significantly to the west. Hurricane Katrina may have failed to devastate New Orleans, but that does not mean it is "safe and dry."

Earth will have the last say. It always has, and always will until a bigger space event eclipses it.

Actually there have been times in the past that Mt. Rainier has prety much obliterated the land where Seattle is now. It's all the luck of the draw. We could see another eruption like the one that sent hundreds of feet of mud down the Duwamish all the way to Elliot Bay, and shot rocks the size of cars all over western Washington and as far away as Vancouver, B.C..

But if we are going to obsess about geology, Yellowstone is the big contender in this country. It's capable of burying much of the plains in many feet of ash and blowing so much bad gas and big rocks all over several states that we'd face massive losses of life, trillions in destroyed property and a rebuilding process taking decades or hundreds of years, if we could find the resources to do it at all.

The Mississippi Delta is bits of the Rocky Mountains carried by water, and bits of Yosemite blown into the plains then washed along the waterways to the sea.

Want more? Google the current doomed attempt to keep the Atchafalaya River from capturing the Mississippi and moving it significantly to the west. Hurricane Katrina may have failed to devastate New Orleans, but that does not mean the city is guaranteed to go on forever just as it is.

Earth will have the last say. It always has, and always will until a bigger space event eclipses it.

You can say that again!

I have a picture of me in a parking lot at Ft. Lewis with Ranier in the background. For someone who grew up in the deep midwest, that mountain was always a wierd thing to see.

And it would probably be a good thing if Tacoma got washed away. I suppose it could have changed some in the last 25 years. I bet not for the better.

Hey, am I the first one to ask, "what's a Lahar?"

From Wikipedia:

A lahar is a type of mudflow or landslide composed of pyroclastic material and water that flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.[1] The term "lahar" originated in the Javanese language of Indonesia.

Since lahars have no apparent conservative ideological connotations, I assume Wikipedia is telling the truth in this case.

Can't believe it's been thirty years.
Three days before she blew, I had packed my bags into an old Dodge van and left Seattle to find my fortune.

Still looking. Wish I could remember where I put that thing.

About 15 years ago, I had a long go around with several companies in Portland concerning employment with them. Got up every morning and looked at Mt Hood, little trickle of steam rising out of the top, and started checking evac routes. The choice was (1) over the coastal range towards Seaside, (2) south down the Willamette valley (under the left shoulder of Hood), and (3) east up the Columbia river gorge, between Hood and St Helens.
It's the basic reason I'm still in Texas. They were offering money, but, hell, even during Ike all I really needed was enough gas to run the generator for 4 days. And tropical storms come with a 3 day warning.

Don't forget Glacier Peak either. The Daily Fish wrap, err...Everett Herald has a nice visualization of the results if it were to erupt. Darington and most of the Skagit Valley would be hit hard.

Glacier Peak Hazard Zones

Now that Miss USA is a bikini-wearing, pole-dancing Muslim, this will probably happen sooner..

Nah, it'll take the Cubs winning the World Series to bring it on.

Are you sure the first picture of Mount St. Helens was really taken the day before it blew? I flew over it two days before the event and there was quite a lot of visible smoke coming out of the top at that time.

As I began this post, with the before-and-after pics of St Helens, I grinned with the anticipation of reading
a not so subtle Gerard metaphorical slammer on the sudden, frightening impact of today's primaries on the complacent
lotus eaters inside the beltway.

Shucks.

Results aren't in as of this post, but I'm looking for wonderful things tomorrow, if it may only happen -- hear me up there, whoever you are.

I didn't remember that an earthquake kicked off the event. How much time was there between the earthquake and the eruption?

How bittersweet---photo #4, of vulcanologist David Johnston. It must mean so much to his family.

That was two weeks before my college graduation. Before the 25-hr news cycle and the internet. We had to rely on photos in Newsweek and didn't know the extent of the devastation until months later.

I was living in Yakima on May 18, 1980. At approximately 8:32, I felt the Big Bang and dove under my bed....and then when I was still alive, I got outside and watched the ash cloud slowly creep over the mountain ridge, and at 10 a.m. (still alive) we watched the sun go out as it became darker than midnight.
Then we went inside to watch the news people panic. That's just about the time I quit believing the news.

Jewel - you got a good lesson. Me? Standing and watching as Lake Ste. Clair and the Detroit River went all nasty - and then realizing that there were bigger bodies of water that were nearby and likely going utter ape-feces.

Note: Earth to humans - your sonnet gets squished by my volcano.

Check. Mate.