{"id":142542,"date":"2026-05-30T18:03:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T21:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/americas-biggest-volcanic-threat-may-come-without-an-eruption\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T18:03:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T21:03:46","slug":"americas-biggest-volcanic-threat-may-come-without-an-eruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/americas-biggest-volcanic-threat-may-come-without-an-eruption\/","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s Biggest Volcanic Threat May Come Without an Eruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

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After Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, experts were faced with a precarious question: How can we best prepare for when<\/em>\u2014not if\u2014the next volcanic eruption in the Cascade Range occurs?<\/p>\n

Triggered by a 5.1-magnitude earthquake<\/u><\/a>, the Mount St. Helens volcanic<\/u><\/a> disaster devastated nearby communities in Washington, taking 57 lives and causing $860 million in damage to roads, railways, local infrastructure, and the logging industry\u2014and for researchers, it was a wake-up call for establishing better seismic monitoring and eruption preparedness.<\/p>\n

But scientists weren\u2019t necessarily figuring out how to plan for streams of lava or plumes of ash billowing out of a volcano in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. Instead, they knew they needed a blueprint for taking on a lesser-known danger, one that could wreak havoc on communities\u2014without a volcano even erupting.<\/p>\n

The ruin brought by the Mount St. Helens disaster had less to do with the eruption itself, but rather, the huge lahar the event generated. Experts warn these violent, volcanic mudflows could be the biggest looming threats to people, towns, and the environment in the Pacific Northwest, and the race to analyze lahars\u2014before it\u2019s too late\u2014sits at the center of this gripping <\/strong>Popular Mechanics <\/strong><\/em>feature<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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