What might your neighborhood look like after the next big earthquake? Visit DNR’s seismic scenarios web page

Shades of red indicate estimated numbers of buildings (yellow dots are schoos) that might be severely damaged in this section of Mount Vernon, WA, following a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on the Devil’s Mountain earthquake fault. Source: Washington State Geologic Information Portal/DNR. CLICK TO ENLARGE

Sorry about that! Some visitors to DNR’s website yesterday and this morning experienced delays accessing newly updated interactive earthquake scenarios on the Washington State Geologic Information Portal. The volume of traffic to the portal jumped following yesterday’s Seattle Times article about the State Seismic Hazards Catalog. The scenarios describe the potential impacts on communities and their infrastructure — from homes to utilities — from large earthquakes on 20 major earthquake faults across the state. The State Seismic Hazards Catalog is intended to help citizens, businesses, and safety officials plan for better resiliance to and recovery from a major earthquake.

Visit the State Seismic Hazards Catalog to see interactive graphic representations of how a major earthquake might affect your neighborhood.

Note about the graphic with this post: The Devils Mountain Fault runs about 75 miles from Darrington due west to the northern tip of Whidbey Island and continues on towards Victoria, B.C. where the fault is believed to join the Leech River fault system at the southern end of Vancouver Island. The software on which the earthquake scenarios are built was produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s HAZUS program. The software provides estimates for the potential damage based on currently available data.

Have you looked up your neighborhood in the State Seismic Hazards Catalog yet? See what readers are discussing on DNR’s Facebook page

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DNR weekend reading: Research findings about earthquakes, volcanoes, and forests

Twenty-five years after the 1980 eruption, the Pumice Plain north of the Mount St. Helens crater is covered in wildflowers. Photo: P. Frenzen/USDA Forest Service (2004).

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

University of Pennsylvania: Penn Research Helps Paint Finer Picture of Massive 1700 Earthquake
Researchers from the United States and Canada used a fossil-based technique of investigation to provide a finer-grained portrait of a massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States in the year 1700. Understanding the changes in coastal land level produced by the estimated 9 magnitude earthquake will help citizens and government to better prepare for future large earthquakes.

Mother Nature Network: Which U.S. volcanoes are likely to erupt next?
There are three main sections of the U.S. that tend to experience volcanic activity, and scientists believe many of the volcanoes there may be about due for a major eruption. Seven U.S. volcanoes (including four in Washington State) pose some of the highest risks.

University of Alberta: Helping forests gain ground on climate change
Timber industry and government foresters are using tree-planting guidelines developed by University of Alberta researchers to get a jump on climate change. Researchers also have developed maps of likely climatically suitable habitats for tree species based on climate predictions for the 2020s through 2080s.

Deep Carbon Observatory: Presence of Life in Oceanic Crust Confirmed
Researchers have discovered evidence of life 500 meters below the seafloor of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. “They found genetic evidence of Methanosarcinales, anaerobic archaea known to metabolize methane. Further experiments showed that microbes have affected the chemical signature of sulfur in the host basalt, suggesting they could harness energy from the breakdown of sulfates.

Mount St. Helens: The big blast was 33 years ago today

On the morning May 18, 1980, Keith Stoffel, then a DNR employee, took this photo while on a sightseeing flight over Mount St. Helens. It is the only known image of the initial eruption. Photo: Keith Stoffel (c) 2010.

The explosion of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, produced a powerful blast that destroyed 230 square miles of national, state and private forest, and took 57 lives. Some of those who died from powerful shock waves and clouds of hot ash and superheated gases were several miles away. Others drowned when  lahars — mud flows – spilled down local valleys and river beds.

Today, a 110,000-acre area around the mountain is a National Volcanic Monument. The mountain has been a lot quieter since the events of May 18, 1980; several steam eruptions occurred in 2004, but caused no injuries or deaths.

DNR’s Geology and Earth Resources Division works with the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies to monitor Mount St. Helens and the other active volcanoes in Washington State.

Read more about Keith Stoffel’s narrow escape from the mountain’s blast after snapping today’s photo, and learn more about the eruption on our Mount St. Helens information page.

More photos of Mount St. Helens are on the DNR Flickr page.

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Mount Rainier: Regional landmark is also nation’s most potentially dangerous volcano

The community of Orting, Washington, is built on top of 500-year-old lahar debris from Mount Rainier (rear). Photo: USGS.

May is Volcano Awareness Month in Washington State. On the eve of tomorrow’s anniversary of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens, DNR Ear to the Ground has featured one of the state’s five active volcanoes each day this week. Today, the spotlight is on Mount Rainier.

Because of its elevation (14,410 feet), massive icecap, glacier-fed valleys, and proximity to Seattle and Tacoma suburbs, Mount Rainier is the most potentially dangerous volcano in the nation — it’s also ranked among the top ten most-most dangerous in the world. According to the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program, there hasn’t been a major eruption on Mount Rainier in 1,000 years, but an explosive eruption (a la Mount St. Helens) isn’t the primary concern. Mount Ranier can generate huge lahars — rapidly flowing slurries of mud and boulders — even without an eruption. Avalanches caused by heated rock or volcanic gases can swiftly melt snow and ice and produce torrents of meltwater that pick up loose rock and become a lahar.

In its role as the state’s geological survey, DNR mapped the routes of past Mount Rainier lahars. The most destructive — and most likely — lahar routes are on the mountain’s north and west sides. A lahar here could feed into the Puyallup River valley where cities, towns and housing developments have been built on top of lahar deposits from as recently as 500 years ago.

DNR estimates that a moderately large lahar in the Puyallup River valley would cause $6 billion or more in damages to structures and other property. Large lahars of the past have reached Puget Sound via the Nisqually River Basin, Commencement Bay and Elliott Bay, including the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.

Have you given much thought to the potential of a large lahar from Mount Rainier? Has it influenced your decisions on where to live or work? Join the discussion on DNR’s Facebook page.

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Mount Baker: Tons of snow and ice atop a sleeping volcano

As the second-most glaciated mountain in the Cascades, an volcanic eruption on Mount Baker could produce deadly lahars in several populated river drainages. Photo: USGS.

Volcano Awareness Month and our countdown to the 33rd anniversary of the Mount St. Helens, May 18, 1980, eruption continue with a look at Mount Baker. The main hazards posed by this active volcano in central Whatcom County are debris flows and debris avalanches from its considerable glaciers and snowpack–events that can occur even without a volcanic eruption.

Mount Baker has been mostly quiet since the mid-19th century when several explosions were seen from Bellingham – a mere 30 miles due west. It perked up in 1975 with several large emissions of volcanic gases. As the second-most glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states, Mount Baker presents similar mudslide dangers as Mount Rainier (the mountain with the largest glacier cover in the lower-48 states).

It’s quiet… for now.  

Mount Adams: Majestic giant has been quiet lately but still poses a threat

Mount Adams as seen from Mount St. Helens in this aerial photo. Photo: USGS.

May is Volcano Awareness Month in Washington State. As we approach the 33rd anniversary of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens, DNR Ear to the Ground is featuring one of the state’s five active volcanoes each day this week. Today the spotlight is on Mount Adams.

One of the largest volcanoes in the Cascade Range, Mount Adams has been less active during the past few thousand years than its neighbors (Mounts St. Helens, Rainier, and Hood). The most common type of eruptions over the long history of Mount Adams have been lava flows–streams of molten rock–which created a volcanic field that now covers about 500 square miles of the landscape in Skamania, Yakima, Klickitat, and Lewis counties and the Yakima Indian Reservation. Even if there is no eruption, landslides of weakened rock originating on the steep upper flanks of Mount Adams can spawn dangerous lahars, which are watery flows of volcanic rocks and mud that surge downstream like rapidly flowing concrete.

Here is the current alert status for Cascade Range volcanoes from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory.

DNR and its Division of Geology and Earth Resources help map, monitor and educate the public, governments and others about geologic hazards, including volcanoes, such as Mount Adams.

Have you been to Mount Adams lately? Join in the discussion on DNR’s Facebook page.

Glacier Peak: A volcano that may be out of sight for most, but not out of mind

Glacier Peak viewed from the east. Photo: USGS.

May is Volcano Awareness Month in Washington State. In the week leading up to the 33rd anniversary of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens, DNR Ear to the Ground is featuring one of the state’s five active volcanoes each day.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013: Glacier Peak. Located in a wilderness area in eastern Snohomish County, Glacier Peak is not easily visible from any major metropolitan centers, and so the hazards (and attractions) of this 10,451-foot peak may get overlooked. Yet, Glacier Peak has produced larger and more explosive eruptions than any other Washington volcano except Mount St. Helens. Glacier Peak is only 70 miles from Seattle, which puts it closer to the state’s largest metropolitan area than any volcano except Mount Rainier.

Eruptions of Glacier Peak have characteristically produced large volumes of volcanic ash and airborne pumice that could endanger the closest centers of population. The last major eruption of Glacier Peak was around the year 1700.

We want our awareness-raising about Washington State volcano threats to encourage preparation and not raise unnecessary alarm, so here is the very latest on alert levels for Cascade Range volcanoes from the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory.

DNR and its Division of Geology and Earth Resources help map, monitor and educate the public, governments and others about geologic hazards, including volcanoes.

Join our discussion on Facebook about your favorite volcano in Washington State.

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May is Volcano Awareness Month

Mount St Helens, May 18, 1980. Photo: DNR.

May is Volcano Awareness Month in Washington State. This Saturday, May 18, will mark 33 years since the deadly explosion of Mount St. Helens. The eruption produced a blast that, traveling at the speed of sound, mowed down thousands of acres of forest and showered hot ash and gases across the landscape. Fifty-seven people died, including two people who were watching the eruption some 25 miles away from the mountain.

Helping us to prepare for the next time one of the state’s five active volcanoes threatens to erupt is the Washington Emergency Management Division with some helpful reminders.

Visit the website of the U.S. Geological Survey to view an informative, illustrated paper about Mount St. Helens and what the mountain has been up to since 1980. Throughout the week, we will look at what’s known about Mount St. Helens and the four other active volcanoes in our state: Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier and Mount Adams. And we should not forget Mount Hood, just over the border in Oregon, which is considered the most potentially hazardous of the five active or potentially active volcanoes in Oregon.

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Washington Geologic Wonders: Dry Falls was really flowing during the last Ice Age

The Dry Falls formation in Grant County was created by massive flooding during the last Ice Age, 12,000-18,000 years ago. Photo: Rian Skov/DNR.

The majestic Dry Falls formation near Coulee City was created by the Missoula floods about 12,000-18,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. A cycle of damming and breaching of the ice surrounding Glacial Lake Missoula (a massive lake situated in current-day western Montana) produced numerous large floods. In their wake, the floods left the many large carved landforms (including Dry Falls) that we see today across parts of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The floods sculpted Dry Falls by cutting into the Columbia River Basalts rock formation. It is estimated that the volume of water coming over the falls during those Ice Age floods was about ten times greater than Niagara Falls.

This impressive spot is easy to visit and learn about, thanks to the Washington State Parks-maintained visitor center there. Dry Falls also is a principal stop along the proposed Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.

Learn more about the geology of Washington state by reading  Washington State Geology News, published by DNR’s Division of Geology and Earth Resources. Sign up for a free subscription

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DNR published report shows potential gaps in earthquake recovery

The strong earthquake that struck the Chinese province of Sichuan this weekend killing more than 180 people is a reminder of the earthquake risks we face in Washington state. Geologists say it is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ a major earthquake strikes our state.

A major problem that emergency planners face is how long should it take to rebuild infrastructure versus how long will it take? To get a picture of how well we are, or are not, prepared to recover from a large earthquake, DNR— home of the state’s geologic survey—worked with other members of the Washington State Seismic Safety Committee to publish the ‘Resilient Washington State’ report. The report contrasts optimum recovery times with best estimates of the reality. For example, hospitals in the greater Seattle area would need to be operational almost immediately after a major earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone, but in reality some facilities might be seriously damaged and stay offline for months. The Resilient Washington State’ report offers recommendations to improve statewide resilience to earthquakes and other disasters.

This article from Washington State Magazine shows the challenges we can expect to face in western Washington following a major earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone, which lies just off of our coast.

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