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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Mt. Saint Helens Rumbling to Eruption? |
| 2004-09-27 |
| Hat Tip DRUDGE SEATTLE - Seismologists believe there's an increased likelihood of a hazardous event at Mount St. Helens due to recent changes in the mountain's seismic activity, and a notice of volcanic unrest was issued Sunday afternoon by the U.S. Geological Survey. "The key issue is a small explosion without warning. That would be the major event that we're worried about right now," said Willie Scott, a geologist with the USGS office in Vancouver. The trails on the mountain are closed to climbing as a precaution. Some of the earthquakes suggest the involvement of pressurized fluids, such as water or steam, and perhaps magma. The quakes have occurred at depths less than one mile below the lava dome within the mountain's crater. USGS Page : Mt. St. Helens Region The cause and outcome of the swarm was uncertain Sunday evening. A group of scientists planned to visit the mountain Monday to collect data. "There's been no explosions, there's no outward sign that anything is occurring. This is all based on the pattern of earthquake activity that is occurring below the dome," said Scott. Experts believe there is "an increased probability of explosions from the lava dome if the level of current unrest continues or escalates," USGS and the University of Washington Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network in Seattle said in a joint statement. In the event of an explosion, Scott said the concern would be focused on the area within the crater and the flanks of the volcano. It's possible that a five-mile area primarily north of the volcano could receive flows of mud and rock debris. That portion of the mountain blew out during the 1980 eruption that left 57 people dead, devastating hundreds of square miles around the peak and spewing ash over much of the Northwest. During the tiny earthquakes last week, UW seismology lab coordinator Bill Steele said heavy autumn rains may have caused groundwater to percolate into hot rock beneath the surface of the crater, which would increase pressure. He said it would also raise the possibility of small steam explosions that could hurl rocks down within the crater. A similar swarm of quakes in November 2001 and another in the summer of 1998 did not result in an eruption. However, the quakes could increase the likelihood of small rock slides from the 876-foot-tall lava dome within the mountain's crater. In the 1986 eruption, magma reached the surface and added to the pile of lava on the crater floor. Natural Disasters and Purple States? |
| Posted by:BigEd |
| #16 Is there any reasonable way to release the pressure and avoid an eruption (if one is due)? |
| Posted by: RJ Schwarz 2004-09-27 10:40:07 PM |
| #15 Good source of protein, locusts. And kosher, too. Not that Mr. Khan would care about that (unless he really was the Chinese branch of the Kahn/Cohn/Cohen tribe of Israelite priests decended from Aaron)*grin* |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-09-27 10:12:29 PM |
| #14 Kubli Kahn ,when a locust plague devasted Central China,was asked to send famine relief responded with"Let them eat the locusts". Pragmatic,dude,that Kubli. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2004-09-27 7:18:36 PM |
| #13 Sorry, BigEd, I will try the link again, AND paste, ;) http://rantburg.com/page2.asp?D=9/27/2004#44359 |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2004-09-27 3:46:08 PM |
| #12 Not so fast, Brutus, Poisonous Reverse has not commented yet. |
| Posted by: Tom 2004-09-27 3:32:25 PM |
| #11 Specially good when the rice is pre-digested. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2004-09-27 3:32:05 PM |
| #10 "If only we'd passed the Kyoto Treaty, American Volcano blasts would be prohibited!" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-09-27 3:30:27 PM |
| #9 Wow. what self restraint, no blaming Bush and the Republicans for St. Helens. |
| Posted by: Brutus 2004-09-27 3:29:24 PM |
| #8 Locusts? |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-09-27 3:20:34 PM |
| #7 Itsa all coming true, mmmm, frogs, rice and locusts. Beats tinned sardines. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2004-09-27 3:12:19 PM |
#6  RC - Don't blame us if you cant find your keys! |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-09-27 3:03:27 PM |
| #5 Volcanos: why do they hate us? Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-09-27 2:20:49 PM |
| #4 Not to mention the plague of frogs. Well, "frog". OK, it was a plastic frog. But it was annoying me, so I was perfectly justified in throwing it out of my cube. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-09-27 2:02:55 PM |
| #3 and asteroids! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-09-27 1:42:27 PM |
| #2 Jeez Louise. The bible-thumpers must be having a field day with the latest news: hurricanes, quakes, volcanic eruptions, the israelite and the pharisee and the christian spilling blood and heads.... |
| Posted by: lex 2004-09-27 1:33:28 PM |
| #1 I also did some crude stats : 9/24 Avg Mag 1.5 9/25 1.7 9/26 2.1 9/27 2.1 Not felt normally by humans, but trend is upward... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-09-27 1:31:19 PM |