# Zombie volcanoes are a thing.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-volcanoes-are-a-thing/835179>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 7, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-volcanoes-are-a-thing/835179 "2019-06-07T19:21:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-volcanoes-are-a-thing/835179/1 "2019-06-07T19:21:55Z")

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[Extinct volcano has woken up and scientists say it could erupt ‘at any moment’](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/07/europe/russia-volcano-scli-intl-scn/index.html).

I don’t know what to actually say here. Maybe there is no such thing as a truly extinct volcano or maybe the definition of dormant need to be revisited. The story says that there is currently a 50% chance of an eruption.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-volcanoes-are-a-thing/835179/2 "2019-06-07T20:58:12Z")

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This is located in a really remote part of the world. I’ll give people a pass for not having studied it in depth beforehand.

Now if [Mt. Tabor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tabor_(Oregon)) in the middle of the eastside of Portland were to suddenly start showing signs of waking up, then you’d have a valid point. (It’s either extinct or dormant. Pick one.)

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-volcanoes-are-a-thing/835179/3 "2019-06-08T10:49:45Z")

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> [@Ike\_Witt](#):
>
> [Extinct volcano has woken up and scientists say it could erupt ‘at any moment’](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/07/europe/russia-volcano-scli-intl-scn/index.html).
> 
> I don’t know what to actually say here. Maybe there is no such thing as a truly extinct volcano or maybe the definition of dormant need to be revisited. The story says that there is currently a 50% chance of an eruption.

Our (geollically stable) earthquake advisory here is that there is no such thing as a truely geologically stable location. But I think that mountains shift sideways off the top of volcanos - sometimes the dead peaks are dead because they aren’t on top of the active location anymore.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-volcanoes-are-a-thing/835179/4 "2019-06-08T14:38:14Z")

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Isn’t there a 50% chance of most anything either happening or not happening?

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**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-volcanoes-are-a-thing/835179/5 "2019-06-18T01:41:01Z")

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Yes. Chefguy, I’d like play poker with you at your earliest opportunity.