This is for my 5th grade class in Centerville, Ohio. I have three questions.

1. Will Mt. St. Helens ever erupt again?

2. How much destruction can a volcano do?

3. Will one of Hawaii's volcanoes erupt again?

Michael Frasca

1. Yes, Mt. St. Helens will erupt many more times in the next hundred thousand years or so before it dies. What we can not predict is when. During the last century St. Helens erupted about 9 times, but only one eruption sequence of a few years this century. We don't know what it will do in the next hundred years, but I expect at least a few eruptions.

2. The damage done by an erupting volcano depends pretty much on how close the volcano is to a nearby town. In 1985 the Ruiz eruption in Colombia destroyed the town of Armero and its 25,000 citizens. A major eruption of Mt. Hood or Mt. Rainier will greatly threaten Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.

3. Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has been erupting continuously since 1983. Mauna Loa erupted in 1984 and will certainly erupt again in the next decade or so. Hope these answers help you understand that volcanoes live a long time, and that eruptions are natural activities.

Chuck Wood, University of North Dakota

Other Categories        Other Questions
To VolcanoWorld