Will Mount Baker erupt anytime soon? We would have lots of notice, experts say

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As officials in New Zealand continue to search for missing people after a volcano erupted and killed at least five people, some are wondering if Mount Baker could be next.

Bernie Housen with the geology department at Western Washington University says Mount Baker will erupt at some point, but it’s very difficult to say when.

“The volcano in New Zealand has a little smaller vent but it was in a more active stage, so it had a lot more steam and gas activity,” he says.

Mount Baker is about 24 kilometres from the Canadian border, and the last major eruption was 6,600 years ago.

Housen’s colleague, Dave Tucker, says there hasn’t been significant activity of any kind at the mountain for a long time.

RELATED: 5 dead, many more missing in eruption of New Zealand volcano

“The last [steam] eruption at Mount Baker that’s documented in the geologic record is 1843. That was a very large steam blast that was reported by Hudson’s Bay people at Fort Langley,” he says. “Baker has not erupted much in a long time.”

Housen adds with Baker, the potential danger would be mud flows of material on the mountain, melted by steam.

“The other big danger with all of the volcanoes here are these lahars, the volcanic mud flow,” he says.

White Island’s volcanic eruption sent ash and scalding steam into the air on Monday. Five people, some of them tourists visiting the site, have been confirmed dead so far and as many as two dozen others are missing and presumed dead.

Tucker says while White Island was much more active, we would have weeks of notice if anything were to happen with Mount Baker – that’s plenty of time for full evacuations.

Another expert from UBC tells NEWS 1130 there is little chance of Mount Baker erupting.

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