Does California have active volcanoes? Here’s what to know in wake of Mauna Loa eruption
The recent volcanic eruption of Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano situated in Hawaii, has set off whispers of its potential affect on the West Coast’s volcano scene.
Leave it to the volcanologiststo give the facts (and some relief): The threat doesn’t travel that far. California is home to various types of volcanoes with the potential to erupt; but, according to the United States Geological Survey, volcanoes in the Golden State were at “normal background levels of activity last week.”
The following volcanoes are monitored:
- Mount Shasta and Medicine Lake Volcano in Siskiyou County
- Mount Lassen Volcanic Center, east of Redding, in Shasta County
- Clear Lake Volcanic Field in Lake County
- Long Valley Caldera, on the east side of the Sierra, in Mono County
- Coso Volcanic Field, 100 miles northeast of Bakersfield, in Inyo County
- Ubehebe Craters in Death Valley, Inyo County
- Salton Buttes on the Salton Sea in Imperial County
There’s no connection, the USGS wrote Wednesday on its volcanoes-focused Twitter page, to the eruption at Mauna Loa in Hawaii to California or the West Coast — “They’re not even on the same tectonic plate.”
The 13,100-foot volcano erupted within Mokuaweoweo caldera, around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Initially, experts thought lava flows were contained to the cauldron-like hollow, but Big Island residents reported seeing lava rushing down mountains.
Early the next morning, USGS said that although the summit was overflowing from the caldera, residents weren’t threatened. Those with breathing problems were urged to stay indoors as up to a quarter-inch of ash was predicted to fall on Hawaii.