# Pacific Northwest volcanoes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792 "2007-02-12T01:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792/1 "2007-02-12T01:09:43Z")
From Mt. Lassen in the south to Mt. Garibaldi in the north, there are nearly a score of volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest (not counting Alaska). How many of them are not extinct? Which are more likely to erupt first? ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792/2 "2007-02-12T01:16:17Z")
Mt Baker down in Washington State send up plumes every so often, just to keep everyone on their toes. I believe it’s last blast was around 1908 but it’s far from extinct. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792/3 "2007-02-12T01:18:40Z")
I thought that Mt. St. Helens has been threatening again and could go off at any moment. It was a little tense about a year or so ago and big belches came out at regular intervals. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792/4 "2007-02-12T01:20:15Z")
[QUOTE=zoogirl] Mt Baker down in Washington State send up plumes every so often, just to keep everyone on their toes. I believe it’s last blast was around 1908 but it’s far from extinct. [/QUOTE] Yes, Baker and Rainier are dangers. I can see Baker [from my house](http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m305/llaaksonen/?action=view¤t=DSCN0093.jpg). (Okay, my house isn’t actually in the bay. But it’s like 50 miles from Baker.) I wonder which will erupt first? Baker or Rainier? And of course, Mt. Saint Helens is still alive. It even has its own [Volcano Cam](http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/). (Nothing to see, as I post this.) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792/5 "2007-02-12T01:50:41Z")
[Cascade Eruptions During the Last 4,000 Years](http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Gif/Cascades/EruptiveHistory/cascades_eruptions_4000yrs.gif) The link covers Baker, Glacier Pk., Rainier, St. Helens, Adams, Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters, Newberry, Crater Lake, Medicine Lake, Shasta, and Lassen. Of those, only Crater Lake and Jefferson have **not** erupted. [Here’s more detail](http://www.pnsn.org/INFO_GENERAL/volcanoes.html) on _most_ of these peaks. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792/6 "2007-02-12T01:51:32Z")
Here’s a map of active volcanoes in the contiguous 48. [http://www.nationalatlas.gov/dynamic/dyn\_vol-us.html](http://www.nationalatlas.gov/dynamic/dyn_vol-us.html) St.Helens is in a period of dome building and, according to the latest technology, does not pose a significant danger in the forseeable future, although the dome building activity gets a lot of attention. Several volcanoes are overdue, in geologic terms, for erupting. Probably the most catastophic potential exists w/ Rainier and Hood. Either of these would dwarf the effects of St. Helens. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792/7 "2007-02-12T01:53:27Z")
From the [USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory, Vancouver, Washington](http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/) [Active and Potentially Active Volcanoes in California](http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Vhp/C1073/active_volcanoes_california.html) [Active and Potentially Active Volcanoes in Oregon](http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Vhp/C1073/active_volcanoes_oregon.html) [Active and Potentially Active Volcanoes in Washington](http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Vhp/C1073/active_volcanoes_washington.html) The following is a list of volcanic sites in the Cascades; those that are considered active are bolded: > [@](#): > > California > > Amboy Crater > Black Butte > \*\*Clear Lake \*\* > \*\*Coso Volcanic Field \*\* > Glass Mountain > Golden Trout Creek Volcanic Field > Gorda Ridge > Inyo Craters - Inyo Domes > Lassen Peak > Lassen Volcanic National Park > Lava Beds Vicinity > Lava Beds National Monument > \*\*Long Valley Caldera \*\* > Mammoth Mountain > \*\*Medicine Lake \*\* > Mono Craters - Mono Domes > Mount Konocti > \*\*Mount Lassen \*\* > \*\*Mount Shasta \*\* > Salton Buttes > Sutter Buttes > > Oregon > > \*\*Mount Hood \*\* > \*\*Mount Jefferson \*\* > Three-Fingered Jack > Mount Washington > Belknap Shield Volcano > \*\*Three Sisters – North, Middle, South \*\* > Broken Top > Mount Bachelor > Pilot Butte > Lava Butte > \*\*Newberry Caldera \*\* > Diamond Peak > Mount Bailey > Mount Thielsen > \*\*Crater Lake \*\* > Mount Mazama > Wizard Island > Mount McLoughlin > > Washington State > > \*\*Mount Baker > Glacier Peak > Mount Rainier > Mount St. Helens > Mount Adams \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pacific-northwest-volcanoes/391792/8 "2007-02-12T01:57:22Z")
The [Three Sisters](http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Sisters/description_three_sisters.html), in Deschutes County, Oregon near the border with Lake County, are mentioned in the potential hazards list, IIRC with South Sister the one most likely to erupt. I’ve heard Mount Hood mentioned a couple of times as well, but don’t know how seriously anyone takes that threat. **Duckster** should have some serious information. Writing from some admittedly not-certainly-precise memory, I believe that St. Helens, Baker, and South Sister, in that order, are the ones considered the most likely. Rainier would cause the largest disaster if it went into full-scale eruption, but its likelihood is rather further down the scale.