The Big and a Supervolcano

When and where the next Big earthquake will be is not easy to predict or forecast and maybe even impossible to foresee.
Even though, we can have an idea of where it is likely to be and what is sure is that it Will happen...

The "Big" as it is called, is supposed to devastate a very important part of the United States.
Since the last big earthquake that the earth suffered and the Tsunami, the earth has a - different - behaviour. Quakes, swamps... Volcanoes erupting... Plates are moving... The whole earth seems to be shaking...

But above all, I wonder the following:
If a big earthquake strikes the United States is it possible that a Supervolcano starts erupting?

Here is the question, what´s your answer?

Only time will tell, but I have a strong feeling that the next "BIG ONE" will happen in the Pacific Northwest near Vancouver Island.

I don't know that seismic activity is tied to volcanic eruptions, that may be a bit of a leap.
I think people confuse the fact that sure, volcanos shake before they erupt, but just because the ground shakes, you can't draw the conclusion that a volcano will go off.

But as far as my prediction, I think the Cascadia Subduction Zone is the one to watch. This sucker could go at any time and it could destroy a large part of the Pacific Northwest.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is a very long sloping fault that stretches from mid-Vancouver Island to Northern California. It separates the Juan de Fuca and North America plates. New ocean floor is being created offshore of Washington and Oregon.

www.pnsn.org...

I would be more worried about a super caldera that could do substantial damage not to just the US but to the world.

Change the title to:
The Big One, And A Supervolcano

Sorry to nit-pick...........

For the past few weeks, there has been a slow motion earthquake where the Juan de Fuca and North America tectonic plates meet:

www.livescience.com...

It seems to have been a successful event since we haven't had a major earthquake there as they had worried about. Yet, anyway.

Anxietydisorder, you mentioned that Volcanoes shake before they erupt... And when magma changes position? And when it is preparing to erupt? Is the underground magma powerfull enough to cause an earthquake?...

What worries me is the following:
Have you checked tha activity close to Australia/Indonesia where the Supervolcano Toba is situated?

Landsat image of Toba Caldera. Source: Volcano

Take a look to this brief summary of quakes...

5.9 2005/09/30 23:15:21 -5.661 151.659 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.0 2005/09/30 12:54:14 -5.464 151.690 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.0 2005/09/29 22:52:29 -20.419 169.401 38.3 VANUATU
4.9 2005/09/29 20:00:52 -5.412 151.711 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.6 2005/09/29 19:58:45 -5.553 151.937 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.8 2005/09/29 19:56:18 -5.542 151.866 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.2 2005/09/29 19:12:39 -5.543 151.779 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.7 2005/09/29 18:51:16 -5.534 151.760 37.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.7 2005/09/29 18:40:10 -5.452 151.705 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
6.2 2005/09/29 18:23:26 -5.596 151.846 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.4 2005/09/29 18:12:26 5.209 94.475 46.2 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
4.9 2005/09/29 16:50:46 -5.387 151.898 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.9 2005/09/29 16:33:39 -5.538 151.994 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.5 2005/09/29 16:29:40 -5.871 152.360 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.7 2005/09/29 16:22:27 -5.756 151.954 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
6.7 2005/09/29 15:50:26 -5.461 151.820 37.3 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.7 2005/09/29 07:26:39 -7.060 156.021 100.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
4.7 2005/09/27 07:57:49 -10.900 164.025 57.5 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
4.8 2005/09/27 05:24:03 -6.283 147.692 56.7 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.6 2005/09/27 02:48:12 2.586 95.669 30.0 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
4.8 2005/09/26 10:40:04 13.755 120.112 10.0 MINDORO, PHILIPPINES
4.6 2005/09/26 06:55:14 -5.376 152.516 35.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4.9 2005/09/26 04:52:48 4.295 127.865 145.0 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
5.1 2005/09/26 01:34:30 -17.425 167.699 30.0 VANUATU
5.6 2005/09/25 22:58:56 -17.517 167.671 30.0 VANUATU
5.2 2005/09/25 21:25:40 -5.951 103.873 53.4 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.6 2005/09/25 20:28:41 -17.386 167.887 30.0 VANUATU
4.6 2005/09/25 16:23:20 -25.181 179.459 457.3 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
5.1 2005/09/25 15:37:09 0.119 97.857 27.7 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
Source:`www.usgs.gov..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow"> USGS


And it is only a 5 days activity...

Learnt ages ago at school about Mt St Helens. Which I think was a volcano that also blew itself up, like krakatoa, and is now a caldera (if thats how it works.) Remeber hearing that it still had massive reserves of lava under it and was still very active and if it eventually did erupt on a massive scale again it would do ALOT of damage to America as a whole and perhaps on a world scale. If someone can correct me on anything ive said it'd be much appreciated. Hate it when I get my facts wrong

The scenerio of a "supervolcano" or a "megathrust event" are rare.
The chance of you (the reader of this) being killed by this sort of event is very small.

Sure, the Earth is a dynamic planet, undergoing constant change, but she won't kill you in your sleep unless you are numbered in the unlucky few. (# happens)

The media brings every death and disaster right into your livingroom and we suck it up like calves on a teat.
The same goes for murder, rape and child molesting.
If a kid is killed in Clearwater Florida, the people in Logan Utah are worried that it will happen on their street.
Only because CNN and network news makes it feel like the whole world is bad.

Most of our worries are caused by the very people we trust to give us information.
They make it so sensational and personal that you can't help but be sucked in.


In Reality, It's Not That Bad.....

According to the History:
On Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.

Shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. Nearly 230 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing. At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments.

In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.
National Volcanic Monument

But before this happened, Mount St. Helens erupted at least 10 times in the 200 years before the 1980 eruption.
It is considered to be the most active volcano in the Cascades.
We all know it will erupt again, even Volcanologist admit it. What we do not know is WHEN this will happen...

I agree it would be a dangerous eruption, but I do not think that an eruption of Mount St. Helens could have a world wide effect. Even though, maybe we should consider the possibility of it causing a supervolcano eruption... Who knows?





[edit on 3-10-2005 by Ptolomeo]

The Two-Month Precursory Period

The Mount St. Helens volcano reawakened in March 1980 after more than a century of quiet. A magnitude 4.0 earthquake on March 20 was followed by two months of intense earthquake activity, and phreatic "steam-blast" eruptions which began on March 27. Ejecta from these phreatic eruptions were composed of fragments of pre-existing rocks; no magma was tapped during these eruptions. These events were caused by the intrusion of viscous magma into the volcano, shoving the north flank outward more than 300 feet and creating the famous `bulge.' Repeated surveys during April and May showed that the bulge was growing northward at an average rate of about five feet per day.
Source: Volcano

From these figures, it is believed that some earthquakes can be a precursory period to a volcanic eruption...

But not every siesmic event is associated with volcanic activity.

Originally posted by Ptolomeo
The Two-Month Precursory Period

From these figures, it is believed that some earthquakes can be a precursory period to a volcanic eruption...

That's the nature of the beast. Volcanos shake before they blow.
They tend to tell us their intentions by showing some colour before the main event.
We just don't get the precursory indications of an impending earthquake in a way that allows us to predict when one will happen.
The ground shakes on a regular basis throughout the ring of fire without the mountains blowing their tops.

My last post does not negate my original prediction.
If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you live in a hot zone that could crack at any time.
But the chances of the average human being killed by such an event is very minimal.

Be fruitful and multiply, it's our best defense................