- 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. The following are questions you (and your professor)
want answered.
- When was the last time Mt. Rainier had an eruption? (1 point)
- 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? (1 point)
- 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? (2 points)
- Among the things you should be able find is a
hazards map for the area around Mount Rainier. This map is in PDF
format, so make sure you have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on
your computer. The link is http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Rainier/Publications/FS065-97/FS065-97_map.pdf
(You might want to print this map if you cannot see the whole map on your computer screen. If you don't have a color
printer, keep the color image on your monitor so you can interpret the
various color codes on the printed black and white version).
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? (1 point)
- 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) (1 point)
- What steps have been taken in Orting to reduce risk? (1 point)
- 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):
- 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. (2 points)
- How much warning would U.S. east coast cities have to prepare for the
event if it occurred? (1 point)
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