How far away do you have to be from an erupting volcano?
This is an easy question to answer - but hard to correctly judge in the
field! You should be far enough from the volcano to not get hurt. For a
gentle lava flow eruption in Hawaii you can walk right up to the edge of
the lava stream, but be careful not to trip and fall in. And make sure you
don't singe your eyelashes - I did once. For a cataclysmic explosive
eruption like that of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 the nearest safe viewing spot
was tens of miles away.
The trouble with these simple guidelines is that you can't predict how a
volcano will act, perhaps it will suddenly become more dangerous. In 1993
three experienced volcanologists and thiry-some other people accompanying
them were killed when a nuee ardentes suddenly rushed down over them.
I see by your email address that you are at Michigan Tech University. You
are lucky to have there one of the world's leading volcanologist: Bill
Rose. I am sure he would be pleased to tell you more about volcano
safety.
Chuck Wood, University of North Dakota
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