The eruption of Mount Saint Helen's in 1980 certainly affected some known and many unknown archaeological sites, but had little impact on historic resources. Floods and windstorms have some effects, but not to a major degree. Recently a mild earthquake south of Seattle damaged a Carnegie Library in a small community. Rioting erupted in the capital, where one-third are unemployed, on the first day of the French government's planned series of nuclear tests. It is becoming a real hazard.
Murders are up, and gang killings are on the increase.