Once a volcano goes kaboom, how long will it take it to erupt again?
Arisela Hernandez
Hi again Arisela,
Well that depends on the volcano. Some volcanoes erupt very often (and
some like Kilauea almost never stop). On the other hand, some volcanoes
are inactive for very long periods of time between eruptions. For example
Mt. St. Helens erupted in the late 1800's and then again in 1980. That is
considered a relatively short rest for volcanoes in the Cascade range.
Pinatubo, however, last erupted about 400 years ago prior to its 1991
eruption. Lots of people didn't even consider it to be capable of
erupting, it had become so eroded during those 400 years.
The largest eruptions come from volcanoes called rhyolite calderas, and
these huge eruptions (which we haven't really wittnessed since 186 AD in
New Zealand) may occur at intervals of 10,000 to 30,000 years.
Yellowstone, the largest caldera in the U.S.A. seems to erupt on average
every 600,000 years!
This illustrates the problems with ever considering a volcano to be
completely extinct, or even dormant. When does overdue end and extinct start?
Sincerly,
Scott Rowland, University of Hawaii
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