Volcanoes in the West

Mount Hood (left), Mount Rainer (right), and Yellowstone National Park (above)—what do all of these pictures demonstrate? These pictures are possible eruptions within the United States. When people view these astonishingly beautiful sights, they sometimes forget how dangerous, deadly, and alive these volcanoes can be. Throughout the west coast, the population has been warned about the potential danger they are in from these geologic sights. However, what about the rest of the United States? Will they suffer from these eruptions? Certainly, but how soon?

Great deals of people are not aware of these potential dangers right in their very backyard. Perhaps an intriguing characteristic about volcanoes is no two volcanoes or their eruptions are the same. In the instance of Yellowstone National Park, it is said that when Yellowstone erupts, it will be classified as a “super-eruption”. However, it is not known how intense and explosive the eruption will be. In fact, there are many who are not conscious to the idea that Yellowstone National Park is a volcano. If Yellowstone National Park were to erupt today, say goodbye to the United States and hello to worldwide devastation. All of these volcanoes are due for an eruption, but when? There has been evidence of Yellowstone's activity recently increasing; "Yellowstone Super Volcano Getting Ready to Blow it's Cork," portrays this evidence significantly along with many other sources. Mount Rainer and Mount Hood have similar scientific evidence of a possible eruption, but the timing is not known. However, they could erupt in 100 years, 10 years, or tomorrow. That is the unpredictability factor of these geologic features. History has various instances where these natural hazards have devastated cities, towns, or countries (e.g. Mt. Vesuvius devastating Pompeii). No matter what, the fact remains that past eruptions have occurred and it is not known the timing or magnitude of the next eruption.