Volcano Preparedness

Volcano Facts
Alaska and Hawaii have a lot of volcanic activity, but the entire western coast of North America has dozens of active volcanoes, all capable of erupting in the near future. A volcano eruption is not much of a danger for the vast majority of the population, but its good to know the facts and have useful information before you visit a risk area.
A few bits of volcano info to ponder:

• In the past 300 years, over 40 volcanoes have erupted in Alaska, some of them over 20 times each.
• In the Cascade range along the west coast of the U.S., there are 68 active volcanoes and 7 have erupted in the past 200 years.
• A volcano eruption can trigger earthquakes, tsunamis, flash floods, and landslides.
• The high risk area around a volcano is about 40 miles across, but problems from ash can extend hundreds of miles.
• Over 80% of the earth’s surface was created by volcanic activity.
• More than 500 active volcanoes exist. The highest concentration is an area encircling the Pacific Ocean called the Ring of Fire – it contains over half of them.
• Recent Events:
  • Mount St. Helens was dormant for over 100 years before erupting in 1980, killing 58 people and doing over $1 billion in damage.
  • The rock exploding from Mount St. Helens traveled at 250mph and was still going 60mph when it was 15 miles away.
  • Oregon’s Crater Lake is a volcano that blew its top off about 6500 years ago.
  • Mt. Pinatubo in the Phillipines killed 342 people and caused the evacuation of 250,000 in 1992.

Volcano Danger
The further from the volcano you are, the more time you have to respond and the fewer dangers exist. Immediately around the volcano, dangers include earthquake damage, flying rocks, heat blast, lava, floods, and mudslides. Rocks can be thrown 20 miles from a volcanic eruption but the ash can travel hundreds of miles.
Ash facts include:

Read more at:  http://www.emergencydude.com/volcano.shtml