If Mt. Hood were to erupt, what would the implications be in Washington
and Oregon?
John
Larson
Hi John,
The effects would depend on a lot of things, including the size of the eruption,
what time of year it occurred, and what direction the wind was blowing. For
example, a long-running low intensity eruption could probably happen without
much more than an increase of tourists. The city of Kagoshima in Japan lives
across the bay from a volcano called Sakurajima, which puffs out steam and ash a
few times every day. The school kids grow up wearing helmets as they walk to
school, and everybody has gotten used to the inconvenience of having to wash ash
off everything every day.
Back to Mt. Hood: If an eruption took place in winter, probably even if it were
small, there would be a great danger from lahars caused by rapidly melting snow
and ice. Again, depending on the exact location of the vent, these lahars might
be a danger to only some of the volcano flanks or perhaps the whole place. An
eruption in the summer would still be dangerous but the dangers might be better
confined to the higher slopes. The danger of lahars is that they are very fast
and extend a long way down river valleys from the actual volcano.
If the wind was blowing towards Portland (or any other city/town) then the
effects would be magnified. A lot of ash can collapse roofs, especially if it
gets wet. Since this part of the world is kind of rainy that stands a good
chance of happening. Jet airplane traffic is often interrupted by erupting
volcanoes since if the ash gets into the engines they can shut off.
There is a lot more detailed information about Mt. Hood and the other Cascade
volcanoes on the home page of the
Cascades Volcano Observatory
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland, University of Hawaii
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