"ERUPTION WARNING" - MOUNT SAINT HELENS

[HURAKAN]

Breaking News 'Volcano Advisory' Issued for Mount Saint Helens

Team Amber Alert Post this Information Becouse Of The Danger To The Public

MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. Geologists have raised the alert level at Mount Saint Helens to a "volcano advisory," the second highest warning of a possible eruption.

Geologists said activity at Mount Saint Helens is "ramping up" and they are more convinced now that magma is moving under the volcano. They expected an eruption would be limited to within three miles of the volcano.

Scientist told a news conference at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascade Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash., that small earthquakes are now occurring at the rate of four a minute.

Earlier, scientists said the lava dome in Mount St. Helens' crater apparently is growing, possibly a new sign of an impending eruption.

"There seems to be some movement in the lava dome," said Jeff Wynn, chief scientist at the observatory, about 50 miles south of the mountain.

The pressure could come either from a buildup of gases within the 8,364-foot volcano, which erupted with devastating force in 1980, or from molten rock moving into the dome, Wynn said. The volcano began stirring again last week.

Seth Moran, a seismologist at the observatory, estimated the initial movement at 4 centimeters, about an inch and a half.

Wynn said the movement "sort of suggests that we're getting closer" to an eruption that could hurl rocks and ash a few thousand feet into the air.

Scientists were keeping a close eye on the 925-foot-tall dome of hardened lava that has grown inside the crater since the May 18, 1980, eruption that blew the top off the mountain.

Swarms of tiny earthquakes -- more than 1,000 since the mountain began stirring last Thursday -- have gradually increased, cranking up to a level not seen since 1986, when the volcano's last dome-building eruption occurred.

But neither the earthquake activity nor the apparent growth in the dome indicated a major eruption was likely, Wynn said. He predicted a relatively small explosion of rocks, ash and steam within a few days.

On Tuesday, the quakes were occurring at a rate of two or three a minute. The volcano was releasing three to four times the energy it was releasing Monday, Wynn said.

Scientists are trying to determine if the quakes are caused by steam from water seeping into the dome or by magma moving beneath the crater.

Early tests of gas samples collected above the volcano by helicopter Monday did not show unusually high levels of carbon dioxide or sulfur, which could indicate the movement of magma.

Seismologist George Thomas at the University of Washington said that on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 being the explosion at the mountain in 1980, the current activity would rate a one. Thomas said any rocks, ash or steam coming out of the volcano would most likely be contained within the crater itself.

"The alerts we're sending out are just to protect hikers and scientists doing research within the crater," he said.

The USGS issued a notice of volcanic unrest on Sunday. U.S. Forest Service officials closed hiking trails above the tree line at 4,800 feet. The visitors center and most other trails at the Mount St. Helens National Monument have remained open.

The volcano's 1980 blast killed 57 people, spawned mud flows that choked the Columbia River, leveled hundreds of square miles of forests and showered distant communities with volcanic ash.

WHAT A YEAR, 4 HURRICANES HITTING FLORIDA; SUBSEQUENTLY, HUNDREDS OF TORNADOES AND HORRENDOUS FLOODS DEVASTATING THE EASTERN SEABOARD, A 6.0 EARTHQUAKE HITTING CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, AND NOW THIS HISTORICAL VOLCANO, MOUNT SAINT HELENS, WANTS TO ERUPT.

[yoda]

A large eruption is unlikely as it says in that post, but a small one could occur.

[HURAKAN]

Any type of volcanic eruption is bad, and we have to remember that volcanoes are harder to predict than hurricanes. I don't know much about Vulcanology, but I remember I read that in the morning of May 18, 1980, everything seemed O.K. with the volcano, nothing unusual, and then a 5.0 Quake hit near the volcano and the pyroclastic flow was horrible as you may know very well.

[yoda]

Any type of volcanic eruption is bad, and we have to remember that volcanoes are harder to predict than hurricanes. I don't know much about Vulcanology, but I remember I read that in the morning of May 18, 1980, everything seemed O.K. with the volcano, nothing unusual, and then a 5.0 Quake hit near the volcano and the pyroclastic flow was horrible as you may know very well.

Yes, I know... but as the article reads...

"Early tests of gas samples collected above the volcano by helicopter Monday did not show unusually high levels of carbon dioxide or sulfur, which could indicate the movement of magma."

Although this is early, I agree. We will see what happens down the road.

[Matthew5]

I'm keeping a close eye on Mt.St Helens...My thinking at this time if it where to blow over the next few days...With the winds out of the north..."We" Might get a inch or so of Ash??? But if it is bigger then that maybe something to watch.

[yoda]

I'm keeping a close eye on Mt.St Helens...My thinking at this time if it where to blow over the next few days...With the winds out of the north..."We" Might get a inch or so of Ash??? But if it is bigger then that maybe something to watch.

Unlikely. This will be an explosion on a small scale.

[HURAKAN]

I also read that Vulcanologists are very worried since they predic Mt. Rainier may erupt at any time in the future. They say that the pupulation around the volcano has increased in severe levels, and any little or big eruption will be horrible and probably deathly. They argumented that since the volcano has been hundreds of years without volcanic activity snow has accomulated around and over the volcano and any little eruption will cause the ice dome to go downhill as mudslide. They worry it may happen something like in Colombia with Nevado del Ruíz. The volcano had a small eruption overnight and the ice dome melted creating a mudslide killing thousand of people, I think that happened in 1995. I hope nothing happens, and I always say, we in Florida are blessed with having only to worry about Hot days and Hurricanes. I don't want to have anything to do with Tornadoes, Volcanoes, and even less with Earthquakes. Sorry California, but that's true.

[huricanwatcher]

um....... didnt see it..... but can you say.....

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW.?

[Guest]

I've popped zits bigger than this volcano ..It wont be nothing to write home about..

Neither was my zit.

[PurdueWx80]

Yeah...Rainier is a much bigger problem, especially since it has snow and glacial activity year round. Mt. St. Helen's is relatively snow-free during the summer since it's top elevation is so much lower after the blast. Without any snowpack, there is nothing to melt, so you don't have to worry about the mudflows. Mt. Baker would be another big problem (lots of snow all year...TONS in the winter), although the population around it isn't nearly as dense as it is near Rainier.

[Matthew5]

Mt.Hood would be very bad for Portland...It is around 45 miles away. In the mud flows off Mit.hood would get into the river in get into Portland...

[Aslkahuna]

Nevado del Ruiz was in 1985 and the ensuing lahar (volcanic mudflow) killed 22000 people mostly in the town of Armero. In 1980, the science of eruption forecasting was not as advanced as it was to become after the big eruption at Helens and subsequent events and had its greatest success at Pinatubo in the Philippines which was a much larger event than Mt. St. Helens with many, many more people at risk. The big blast in 1980 resulted when the 5.0 shock destabilized the bulge on the north face of the mountain triggering the largest debris flow avalanche in recorded history. The sudden release of pressure resulted in the ensuing lateral and then vertical blast followed by the PF and a major lahar into the rivers. The energy release was on the order of 10MT about 8-10 times less than what Pinatubo released.

Steve

[Ivanova]

Scientists are mystified over Mt St Helens...
the same way I was mystified over how
hurricane Ivan skirted islands... as if... it
was intelligently controlled... volcanoes in
the Pacific Northwest ... and earthquakes
in California... certainly bear watching

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[Ivanova]

Scientists are mystified over Mt St Helens...
the same way I was mystified over how
hurricane Ivan skirted islands... as if... it
was intelligently controlled... volcanoes in
the Pacific Northwest ... and earthquakes
in California... certainly bear watching

oops... forgot to post article



Volcano's activity puzzles scientists


COMUSA - Scientists pored over data and wracked their brains Tuesday to determine the cause of a frenzied pace of tiny earthquakes at Mount St. Helens.

Thousands of earthquakes over the past week marked the most serious activity since magma last boiled to the surface of the Southwest Washington volcano in 1986.

"We're still a little bit mystified," said Carolyn Driedger, with the U.S. Geological Survey in Vancouver. "


Click URL for entire article

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6132028/


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[BEER980]

You might want to keep an eye on Yellowstone while you are at it.