U.S. Government Says 18 Volcanoes Are ‘High Threat’

Okay, that's the bad news. The good news is that none of them are anywhere near Rockford or anywhere else in the Midwest.

Say what you want about Middle America, or "Flyover Country" as some call it. Sure we have our problems, and perhaps we are no where near as exciting as places along both coasts. You might even think of Middle America as being dull. However, far less people expire from boredom than they do from lava. Or boiling mudslides. Or Pyroclastic flow.

Most of us would rather take our chances with sub-zero weather and the occasional January twister than mess around with something like the monster volcano (Vesuvius) that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Nonetheless, the U.S. Geological Survey is updating its volcano threat assessments for the first time since 2005. The danger list is topped by Hawaii’s Kilauea, which has been erupting this year. The others in the top five are Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier in Washington, Alaska’s Redoubt Volcano and California’s Mount Shasta. The agency says a dozen volcanoes have jumped in threat level since 2005. Twenty others dropped in threat level.

From the Washington Post:

Among those where the threat score is higher are Alaska’s Redoubt, Mount Okmok, Akutan Island and Mount Spurr. Threat scores also rose for Oregon’s Newberry Volcano and Wyoming’s Yellowstone.

There are 161 active U.S. volcanoes.

The agency says a dozen volcanoes have jumped in threat level since 2005. Twenty others dropped in threat level.

So maybe our new state tourism slogan should be something like: "Illinois. Mile after Magnificent Volcano-Free Mile."