American Cities near Volcanoes and Earthquakes

Cities and the Power of Nature

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0113_060113_alaska_volcano.html

     Most of us go through our lives without giving nature much thought. We live with the unstated assumption that humans have largely conquered our natural surrounding and have harnessed the power of nature for our own benefit. 

http://www.loveithere.com/

     Cities define human progress and civilization, and yet as advanced and sophisticated as human society sees itself, all of it is dependent on the natural world.  There are human needs, such as food and clean water that must be met, no matter the height of the tallest building or the level of technological prowess.   There are also powerful natural processes.





     Nature has a way of reasserting itself, often in violent and destructive ways. Underneath our great civilization the earth continues to churn and grind into new configurations.  The internal heat of our planet drives the movement of a shattered crust, a thin veil of solid rock that covers a planet alive with thermal energy.  We starkly reminded of this mostly forgotten fact by earthquakes and volcanoes.

* Cities with pop of 250,000 or more within a hundred miles of defined features.

     
     As you can see by this map  in the  lower contiguous United States, there are several major cities near volcanoes with know historical eruptions and near areas that have experienced major earthquakes.  Most are clustered along the west coast and in the Mountain west.  Seattle Washington, illustrated in the image above, has the distinct notoriety of matching both criteria.

For more information see Volcanoes of Washington. and Earthquake Tracker.

By Joe Occhipinti (sample of a simple storymap)