2012 travel: Earthquakes and volcanic activity possible along Hwy 5 Seattle to California

November 3, 9:31 AMSalt Lake City Cross Country Travel ExaminerLindsay Godfree

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 Volcano Erupting With Fire

Always there are dooms day predictions of the end of life as we know it. The new movie “2012” hits theaters in November focusing public attention on the latest disaster scare based on the Mayan Calendar which is suppose to end in 2012.

There have been three or four previous races and ages of humanity (depending upon the source you read).  All of these have been destroyed in major cataclysms. Predictions mark December 21, 2012 as the end of this age that will end in major catastrophes such as earthquakes which trigger volcanic activity.  

Driving Highway 5 from Seattle, WA into California along the Cascade Range is probably not a place to feel comfortable come 2012. Today, there are spectacular views of the dormant volcanic peaks such as Mount Rainier, Mount Hood and Mount Shasta.

Cascade volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest courtesty of USGS

The United States and its territories have about 170 volcanoes that have been active during the past 10,000 years, and most could erupt again in the future. In the past 500 years, 80 U.S. volcanoes have erupted one or more times.

Mt Saint Helens  is most famous of these for its catastrophic eruption  on May 18, 1980, which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways, and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed.

The USGS provides a current monitoring and activity update for all volcanoes in the Cascade Range. These include Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams in Washington State; Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, Three Sisters, Newberry Volcano, and Crater Lake, in Oregon; and Medicine Lake volcano, Mount Shasta, and Lassen Peak in northern California.

The latest activity recorded at the time of this writing, was beneath Mount Rainier on  was September 20, 2009 with a swarm of small earthquakes. The Sept. 20 swarm has produced the largest number of events of any swarm at Rainier since seismic monitoring began over two decades ago, so they will continue to closely monitor the geophysical parameters at Mt. Rainier.
 

If you liked this also read: Movie 2012: Worldwide landmark destruction can inspire travel to must-see places