Is there a certain number of years a volcano must be inactive to be
labeled dormant?
Anonymous
This is a really good question but there isn't a good answer. It turns out that
"
dormant
" isn't a really good term to use because for some volcanoes each
eruption is only a few months or years apart whereas for others each eruption
may be hundreds or thousands of years apart. For example, the East Maui volcano
here in Hawai'i is often considered dormant--it last erupted some time around
1790. Prior to 1991, Pinatubo hadn't erupted for about 600 years, yet it
certainly isn't dormant now.
Therefore, it is difficult to know if a volcano is either
extinct
or overdue.
Sorry this doesn't give you a very good answer, but there really isn't a good answer.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland, University of Hawaii
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