Get you up to speed: US’s deadliest volcano can destroy towns home to 60,000 within minutes | News World

What remains unclear — It is not specified how effective the current monitoring and evacuation systems are in genuinely protecting residents from a sudden lahar event.

US volcano poses risk to towns housing 60,000 amid fears of lahars

It is feared that the towns could be badly hit if the volcano erupted (Stock image). (Picture: Getty Images)

Scientists have warned that America’s deadliest volcano could obliterate three towns, which are home to 60,000 people, within minutes.

Orting, Puyallup, and Sumner would be decimated beyond recognition if a feared massive volcanic mudflow suddenly tore down Mount Rainier.

The active volcano, located in the Cascade Range of Washington state, has been deemed the USA’s most dangerous volcano due to a number of factors.

These include it being heavily covered in glaciers and unstable volcanic rock, which experts say create the perfect setup for fast-moving volcanic mudflows, known as lahars.

They happen when water mixes with loose rock, ash and debris on a volcano’s slopes and can be triggered by landslides, severe storms and heavy rainfall as well as an eruption.

Andy Lockhart, a geophysicist, warned that all three towns sit on the volcano’s western flank, directly in the path of where a lahar, which can be hundreds of feet high, would likely run.

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Scientists believe that climate change has made the chances of a natural disaster on the volcano more likely (Picture: Getty Images)

Should a rapidly forming ‘no-notice’ lahar occur, it could hit and devastate the towns within 30 minutes, he warned.

‘[They are] the thing that goes bump in the night. It creeps me out,’ he told publication Popular Mechanics.

National Autonomous University of Mexico volcanologist Lizeth Caballero García said they are so dangerous because they are ‘complex phenomena that change a lot during transport’.

‘They can grow, they can dilute,’ she added.

Authorities are aware of these dangers, and have spent decades researching how to improve warning systems so people can get out in time.

The area also holds mass evacuation drills designed to prepare residents for a disaster.

Mount St. Helens was the site of the USA’s most recent large volcanic eruption (Picture: Getty Images)

Despite these efforts, experts say that ‘no-notice’ lahars are still incredibly hard to predict and can occur without clear warning signs.

Climate change may have increased this risk by destabilising glaciers through global warming and increasing the likelihood of severe storms, both key factors in no-notice lahars.

Should one happen, Orting is likely to be worst hit because of its limited evacuation routes and growing population.

To add to this, people could become trapped inside the lahar’s path if roads become clogged during a sudden evacuation.

In an effort to combat the threat, the Cascades Volcano Observatory has built numerous monitoring stations around the volcano to track seismic activity and detect possible lahars in real time.

Researchers have also spent years recreating lahars at a giant experimental flume in Oregon’s HJ Andrews Experimental Forest to better understand mudflows.

Lahars are similar to deadly pyroclastic flow in that they move rapidly with incredible force, giving those in their path little time to flee (Credits: Getty Images)

Data from it feeds into models that help predict how quickly lahars could hit and how much time residents might have to get out.

Mount Rainier is already the site of one of the largest lahars in the US.

It happened thousands of years ago when part of the mountain collapsed, unleashing a massive mudflow.

Scientists estimate it carried enough debris to fill roughly 1.5 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The deadliest in the US within living memory happened in 1980 when the north flank of Mount St. Helens collapsed, sending deadly pyroclastic flows of hot ash and other debris more than 60 miles.

In some ways, lahars are similar to pyroclastic flow in that they move rapidly with incredible force, giving those in their path little time to flee.

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