Hawaii volcano stokes fears of West Coast eruptions
Multiple fissures emitting minor lava spatter opened Saturday on Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, heightening fears of an impending major eruption and prompting a warning by the US Geological Survey of more disaster to come.
The eruption of a Hawaii volcano in the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ also has experts warily eying volcanic peaks on America’s West Coast that are also part of the geologically active region, according to foxnews.com.
The West Coast is home to an 800-mile chain of 13 volcanoes, from Washington state’s Mount Baker to California’s Lassen Peak.
They include Mount St. Helens, whose spectacular 1980 eruption in the Pacific Northwest killed dozens of people and sent volcanic ash across the country, and massive Mount Rainier, which towers above the Seattle metro area.
Liz Westby, geologist at the US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash, said, “There’s lots of anxiety out there. “They see destruction, and people get nervous.” Kilauea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, is threatening to blow its top in coming days or weeks after sputtering lava for a week, forcing about 2,000 people to evacuate, destroying two-dozen homes and threatening a geothermal plant.
Experts fear the volcano could hurl ash and boulders the size of refrigerators miles into the air.