Mount Garibaldi, situated mere kilometres from Squamish, poses the greatest potential threat
Had a person been standing in what is now the B.C. mountain town of Squamish on a day some 10,300 to 12,700 years ago, they would have been shocked to see a volcanic peak in the near distance roar to life and eject a fiery flow of viscous lava. Had they then chosen to stand in place instead of run, they would have witnessed that molten mass slowly spill down the mountain’s rocky slopes and flood through the valley below, pooling to an astounding 110 metres deep at its thickest point.
Oral history, volcanic debris point to peak's past Information on the region's volcanic history is piecemeal, but some clues can be found in stories from the Squamish and Lil’wat Nations. Conner Morison, a PhD researcher in volcanic hazards at the University of Edinburgh, has been analyzing those pieces of volcanic proof and trying to fill in knowledge gaps on Mount Garibaldi since he was an undergraduate in 2016. Morison said determining the probability of another eruption with any degree of accuracy is impossible, but that studying the area gives researchers a chance to unravel what has happened and what could occur in the future.
But in the case of Mount Garibaldi, Morison said lava would likely be the least of people's worries. Past eruptions there have produced relatively short lava flows between 6.4 and 18.6 kilometres long, with only the last one threatening the edge of what is now Squamish. Historically, those flows have also moved slowly, Morison said.
If an explosion produced ash now, Morison said the thickest deposits could cause insulator flashover at power stations and lines, threatening electricity supply between Vancouver and Pemberton. It would also almost certainly cause traffic mayhem as it darkened the skies and settled on roads and runways. Even a thin dusting of ash could obscure drivers' and pilots' vision and cause skidding.
No Canadian volcanoes regularly monitored Despite all of this, the potential for fire, flood and destruction, Canada does not monitor Mount Garibaldi, nor almost any other possibly-active volcanoes. Even Mount Meager, one of the best-studied volcanoes in the country, is only monitored at a level in line with a"very low" threat rating, despite meeting the United States Geological Survey methodology standards for"very high.
Avalanches of debris and slurries of melted rock and ice poured down the volcano, clogging river valleys, destroying roads and bridges and ripping trees out of the earth. In the end, 57 people were killed and hundreds of homes and structures were ruined.
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