- In your work as an insurance company executive you have been reassigned to head up the Tacoma, Washington office of Denyallclaims Insurance Co. Although Tacoma is located about 50 miles from the volcanic mountain, Mount Rainier, other executives in Denyallclaims have assured you that the volcano has not erupted for a long time and there is no risk associated with the volcano. In fact, the current manager of the office, has offered to sell you his home in the suburb of Orting, Washington, for what seems to be a good price. You decide to check things out for yourself, and go to the internet to search for hazards associated with Mt. Rainier, Washington. One good site is - https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3062/
The following are questions you (and your professor) want answered.
a. When was the last time Mt. Rainier had an eruption?
b. Are there any types of volcanic hazards associated with Mt. Rainier that could affect you in the future if you were living in the area of Tacoma or its suburbs? If so, what types of hazards have affected the Tacoma area in the past?
c. Considering that the summit area of Mt. Rainier is covered to a large extent by glacial ice, would residents of the Tacoma area be threatened in any way by a small eruption from the volcano that only sent a few lava flows down the flanks, none reaching more than 1 km from the summit? If so, why, and if not, why not?
d. Among the things you should be able find is a USGS hazards map for the area around Mount Rainier. What hazards exist in Orting, Washington where the Denyallclaims manager has offered to sell the house? How often do events represented by this hazard occur?
e. Find a site on the internet that discusses hazards in Orting, Washington (hint: use the search terms Orting and hazards). Describe the location of Orting in terms of its topography and location relative to rivers, and discuss why this location could be particularly at risk (use the map you found in part d to help you with this)
f. What steps have been taken in Orting to reduce risk?
- Use the internet to answer the following questions (Note that you might have to find more than one article on the internet to answer both questions):
a. What possible volcanic event could occur in the Canary Islands (off the northwest coast of Africa) that could have a disastrous effect on the east coast of the United States? (Try the key words - Canary - Islands - disaster) Describe the possible event and the possible effects it would have on the United States.
b. How much warning would U.S. east coast cities have to prepare for the event if it occurred?