Geography_of_the_United_States

qas: question: During the period from 1989 - 1996, what was the total are of the US in miles?
answers: text: 3,618,780 sq mi

question: According to the CIA World Factbook, what is the total area of the US in miles?
answers: text: 3,794,100 sq mi

question: According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, what is the total area of the US in miles?
answers: text: 3,676,486 sq mi

question: The total square miles of land only in the United States was 9,372,610 km² during what time period?

question: Currently the World encyclopedia mileage of the United States is what?

question: What encyclopedia includes both the Great Lakes and coastal waters in the United States square mileage?

question: These sources consider overseas territories all fifty states and what?
context: From 1989 through 1996, the total area of the US was listed as 9,372,610 km2 (3,618,780 sq mi) (land + inland water only). The listed total area changed to 9,629,091 km2 (3,717,813 sq mi) in 1997 (Great Lakes area and coastal waters added), to 9,631,418 km2 (3,718,711 sq mi) in 2004, to 9,631,420 km2 (3,718,710 sq mi) in 2006, and to 9,826,630 km2 (3,794,080 sq mi) in 2007 (territorial waters added). Currently, the CIA World Factbook gives 9,826,675 km2 (3,794,100 sq mi), the United Nations Statistics Division gives 9,629,091 km2 (3,717,813 sq mi), and the Encyclopædia Britannica gives 9,522,055 km2 (3,676,486 sq mi)(Great Lakes area included but not coastal waters). These source consider only the 50 states and the Federal District, and exclude overseas territories.

qas: question: Compared to other countries, how large is the US?
answers: text: third or fourth largest country

question: Which country is the worlds fourth largest?
answers: text: Canada

question: Who may also be the third largest country?
answers: text: China

question: By land area only the United States is slightly larger or smaller than what other country?

question: China and the United States are larger than Russia and what other country in total area?

question: My total area land and water whether the United States is the third-largest country depends on what?

question: Since the initial publication of the world factbook Guinness has done what?

question: Brazil is larger than what other two countries?
context: By total area (water as well as land), the United States is either slightly larger or smaller than the People's Republic of China, making it the world's third or fourth largest country. China and the United States are smaller than Russia and Canada in total area, but are larger than Brazil. By land area only (exclusive of waters), the United States is the world's third largest country, after Russia and China, with Canada in fourth. Whether the US or China is the third largest country by total area depends on two factors: (1) The validity of China's claim on Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract. Both these territories are also claimed by India, so are not counted; and (2) How US calculates its own surface area. Since the initial publishing of the World Factbook, the CIA has updated the total area of United States a number of times.

qas: question: Who does the US share land borders with?
answers: text: Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south),

question: Who does the US share water borders with in the northwest?
answers: text: Russia

question: How many contiguous states are there?
answers: text: forty-eight

question: Which ocean does Alaska border to the south?
answers: text: Pacific Ocean

question: United States shares land borders with Russia Canada and what other country?

question: The contiguous forty-eight states are bound by the Pacific on the east and what ocean on the West?

question: What state borders the bearing straight on the east?

question: Hawaii lays far to the north east in what ocean?

question: The Gulf of Mexico lies to the southwest of what country?
context: The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and a territorial water border with Russia in the northwest, and two territorial water borders in the southeast between Florida and Cuba, and Florida and the Bahamas. The contiguous forty-eight states are otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Alaska borders the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Bering Strait to the west, and the Arctic Ocean to the north, while Hawaii lies far to the southwest of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean.

qas: question: What is the capital city of the US?
answers: text: Washington, District of Columbia

question: Which US state donated Washington, D.C.?
answers: text: Maryland

question: What are the US territories overseas located in the Pacific?
answers: text: Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands

question: Which US state also donated territory to Washington, D.C., but had it returned?
answers: text: Virginia

question: What is the capital state of the United States?

question: The District of Columbia is on land donated by what two states?

question: What are the uninhabited territories the US has in the Pacific?

question: US territories of Puerto Rico Virgin Islands and Cuba are located where?
context: The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia, is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia had also donated land, but it was returned in 1849.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization: in the Caribbean the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and in the Pacific the inhabited territories of Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, along with a number of uninhabited island territories.

qas: question: How many Great Lakes form a border with Canada?
answers: text: four

question: Which of the Great Lakes is entirely located in US territory?
answers: text: Lake Michigan

question: Which major river is located west of the Appalachian mountains?
answers: text: Mississippi River

question: What type of land makes up the Ohio and Tennessee valleys?
answers: text: rolling hills and productive farmland

question: Which section of the US contains subtropical forests and mangrove wetlands?
answers: text: southeast United States

question: The five Great Lakes formal border with what country?

question: Which great Lake is located entirely outside of US territory?

question: Which major river is located east of the Appalachian Mountains

question: What are the two large Western tributaries of the Mississippi River?

question: Which section of the US contains tropical forests and mangrove wetlands?
context: The five Great Lakes are located in the north-central portion of the country, four of them forming part of the border with Canada, only Lake Michigan situated entirely within United States. The southeast United States contain subtropical forests and, near the gulf coast, mangrove wetlands, especially in Florida. West of the Appalachians lies the Mississippi River basin and two large eastern tributaries, the Ohio River and the Tennessee River. The Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and the Midwest consist largely of rolling hills and productive farmland, stretching south to the Gulf Coast.

qas: question: What area is located in between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains?
answers: text: The Great Plains

question: In which area are a large number of the country's agricultural products grown?
answers: text: the Great Plains

question: How high does elevation rise in the Great Plains?
answers: text: a mile high

question: What is the only major mountain ranged located between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains?
answers: text: Interior Highlands

question: What area is located between the Mississippi River and the appellation Mountains? 

question: A small portion of the countries what is grown in the Great Plains? 

question: The elevation of what is more than a mile high near the Mississippi River?

question: What are the only mountains between the Rocky Mountains and Appellation Mountains?

question: Before being converted to grassland the Great Plains were known for what?
context: The Great Plains lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains. A large portion of the country's agricultural products are grown in the Great Plains. Before their general conversion to farmland, the Great Plains were noted for their extensive grasslands, from tallgrass prairie in the eastern plains to shortgrass steppe in the western High Plains. Elevation rises gradually from less than a few hundred feet near the Mississippi River to more than a mile high in the High Plains. The generally low relief of the plains is broken in several places, most notably in the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, which form the U.S. Interior Highlands, the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains.

qas: question: Which northern country do the Rocky Mountains begin at?
answers: text: Canada

question: Which northern country do the Rocky Mountains terminate at?
answers: text: Mexico

question: In the US, which region is the highest by elevation?
answers: text: The Rocky Mountain

question: In which state are the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains found?
answers: text: Colorado

question: Where did the Great Plains come to a gradual and at?

question: The appellation Mountains are the highest region of what?

question: What mountains generally contain steep slopes and narrow peaks?

question: The Lowes peak of the Rockies is found in what state?

question: What is a low speak of the Rockies?
context: The Great Plains come to an abrupt end at the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains form a large portion of the Western U.S., entering from Canada and stretching nearly to Mexico. The Rocky Mountain region is the highest region of the United States by average elevation. The Rocky Mountains generally contain fairly mild slopes and wider peaks compared to some of the other great mountain ranges, with a few exceptions (such as the Teton Mountains in Wyoming and the Sawatch Range in Colorado). The highest peaks of the Rockies are found in Colorado, the tallest peak being Mount Elbert at 14,440 ft (4,400 m). The Rocky Mountains contain some of the most spectacular, and well known scenery in the world. In addition, instead of being one generally continuous and solid mountain range, it is broken up into a number of smaller, intermittent mountain ranges, forming a large series of basins and valleys.

qas: question: What is the name of the plateau that lies west of the Rocky Mountains?
answers: text: Intermontane Plateaus

question: What is the name of the large southern portion of the Intermontane Plateaus?
answers: text: the Great Basin

question: What type of flats compose the Great Basin?
answers: text: salt flats

question: What region is centered around the Four Corners?
answers: text: Colorado Plateau

question: What is the name of the plateau that lies east of the Rocky Mountains?

question: A large semi arid desert lies between Rockies and what?

question: The large northern portion is known as what?

question: The South East is predominantly what?
context: West of the Rocky Mountains lies the Intermontane Plateaus (also known as the Intermountain West), a large, arid desert lying between the Rockies and the Cascades and Sierra Nevada ranges. The large southern portion, known as the Great Basin, consists of salt flats, drainage basins, and many small north-south mountain ranges. The Southwest is predominantly a low-lying desert region. A portion known as the Colorado Plateau, centered around the Four Corners region, is considered to have some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. It is accentuated in such national parks as Grand Canyon, Arches, Mesa Verde National Park and Bryce Canyon, among others. Other smaller Intermontane areas include the Columbia Plateau covering eastern Washington, western Idaho and northeast Oregon and the Snake River Plain in Southern Idaho.

qas: question: What is the name of the range where the Intermontane plateaus end?
answers: text: Cascade Range

question: What type of mountains compose the Cascades?
answers: text: volcanic mountains

question: Which mountain range contains Mount Whitney?
answers: text: Sierra Nevada

question: What is the largest point in the Sierra Nevadas?
answers: text: Mount Whitney

question: How tall is Mount Whitney?
answers: text: 14,505 ft

question: What is the name of the range where theIntermontane plateau begins?

question: The Cascades consist largely of overlapping what?

question: What is the name of the high gentle dense mountain range?

question: What mountain range contains the lowest point in a contagious forty-eight states

question: The highest point in North America is and what basin?
context: The Intermontane Plateaus come to an end at the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada. The Cascades consist of largely intermittent, volcanic mountains, many rising prominently from the surrounding landscape. The Sierra Nevada, further south, is a high, rugged, and dense mountain range. It contains the highest point in the contiguous 48 states, Mount Whitney (14,505 ft or 4,421 m) It is located at the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, just 84.6 mi or 136.2 km west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at the Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park at 279 ft or 85 m below sea level.

qas: question: What are two national parks located in the mountainous regions?
answers: text: Yosemite and Mount Rainier

question: What is the name of the famous valley located in California?
answers: text: Central Valley

question: What is the name of the famous valley located in Oregon?
answers: text: Willamette Valley

question: What are the low mountain ranges that are located along the pacific coast called?
answers: text: Pacific Coast Ranges

question: What are the tallest trees in the world?
answers: text: Redwoods

question: What two national parks are located on the planes?

question: East of the Cascades Sierra Nevada is a series of what?

question: What is the name of the high mountain range along the coast?

question: What are the skinniest trees in the world?
context: These areas contain some spectacular scenery as well, as evidenced by such national parks as Yosemite and Mount Rainier. West of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada is a series of valleys, such as the Central Valley in California and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Along the coast is a series of low mountain ranges known as the Pacific Coast Ranges. Much of the Pacific Northwest coast is inhabited by some of the densest vegetation outside of the Tropics, and also the tallest trees in the world (the Redwoods).

qas: question: Why does the Appalachian Highland have the terrain it does?
answers: text: crustal deformations

question: During what geological period did the Appalachian mountains reach their highest formation point?
answers: text: Permian time

question: What is the name of the mountaneous region along the Atlantic cost. 
answers: text: The Appalachian Highland

question: The Atlantic Coast of what country is high with minor exceptions?

question: What made to see advance on the land in the southeasternAppalachian?

question: What kind of deformation created in northwest Southeast trend in the Appalachian

question: During what geological. That the Appalachian Mountains reach their lowest point

question: The of Appalachian Mountains are low today because of modern what?
context: The Atlantic coast of the United States is low, with minor exceptions. The Appalachian Highland owes its oblique northeast-southwest trend to crustal deformations which in very early geological time gave a beginning to what later came to be the Appalachian mountain system. This system had its climax of deformation so long ago (probably in Permian time) that it has since then been very generally reduced to moderate or low relief. It owes its present-day altitude either to renewed elevations along the earlier lines or to the survival of the most resistant rocks as residual mountains. The oblique trend of this coast would be even more pronounced but for a comparatively modern crustal movement, causing a depression in the northeast resulting in an encroachment of the sea upon the land. Additionally, the southeastern section has undergone an elevation resulting in the advance of the land upon the sea.

qas: question: What originally covered the east coast of the Appalachians?
answers: text: forest

question: What are the two branches of the Cordilleran system?
answers: text: Rocky Mountain System and the Pacific Mountain System

question: Which two major rivers are located in the Cordilleran system?
answers: text: Columbia River and Colorado River

question: Which region of the Appalachians is the most arid?
answers: text: southwest

question: What system is relatively high and wide?

question: The Appalachian system is bordered on the southwest and south by what?

question: The Cordilleran system on the eastern side of the continent is what?

question: What has three branches including the Rocky Mountains system?

question: Light force cover what coast?
context: The east coast Appalachian system, originally forest covered, is relatively low and narrow and is bordered on the southeast and south by an important coastal plain. The Cordilleran system on the western side of the continent is lofty, broad and complicated having two branches, the Rocky Mountain System and the Pacific Mountain System. In between these mountain systems lie the Intermontaine Plateaus. Both the Columbia River and Colorado River rise far inland near the easternmost members of the Cordilleran system, and flow through plateaus and intermontaine basins to the ocean. Heavy forests cover the northwest coast, but elsewhere trees are found only on the higher ranges below the Alpine region. The intermontane valleys, plateaus and basins range from treeless to desert with the most arid region being in the southwest.

qas: question: What is one of the two major highlands that stretch from the gulf of mexico to the Arctic ocean?
answers: text: Laurentian Highlands

question: How far north do the Interior Highlands reach?
answers: text: Arctic Ocean

question: Which two nations are the central plains divided in?
answers: text: Canadian and a United States

question: Where does the Mississippi discharge?
answers: text: Gulf of Mexico

question: What is the name of the three highlands that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean?

question: The lower Mississippi and some of the Ohio basin are what type of region?

question: Originally trees covered all of what?

question: What Highland stop at the national boundary?

question: The Ohio River discharges where?
context: The Laurentian Highlands, the Interior Plains and the Interior Highlands lie between the two coasts, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico northward, far beyond the national boundary, to the Arctic Ocean. The central plains are divided by a hardly perceptible height of land into a Canadian and a United States portion. It is from the United States side, that the great Mississippi system discharges southward to the Gulf of Mexico. The upper Mississippi and some of the Ohio basin is the semi-arid prairie region, with trees originally only along the watercourses. The uplands towards the Appalachians were included in the great eastern forested area, while the western part of the plains has so dry a climate that its native plant life is scanty, and in the south it is practically barren.

qas: question: What is the climate like in the Southern United States?
answers: text: subtropical

question: Hawaii has what type of climate?
answers: text: tropical

question: Which state is known for its Mediterranean climate?
answers: text: California

question: What contributed to the rise of the US as a world power?
answers: text: agricultural climate

question: What is the climate like in most areas of the US?
answers: text: temperate

question: The southwestern part of what country is subtropical

question: Hawaii and what other state or subtropical?

question: The Great Plains are erred west of what Meridian?

question: The United States favorable agricultural climate hindered what?

question: The United States has frequent droughts and widespread what?
context: Due to its large size and wide range of geographic features, the United States contains examples of nearly every global climate. The climate is temperate in most areas, subtropical in the Southern United States, tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida, polar in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the 100th meridian, Mediterranean in coastal California and arid in the Great Basin. Its comparatively favorable agricultural climate contributed (in part) to the country's rise as a world power, with infrequent severe drought in the major agricultural regions, a general lack of widespread flooding, and a mainly temperate climate that receives adequate precipitation.

qas: question: Which areas have arid regions?
answers: text: The Great Basin and Columbia Plateau

question: What is the precipitation average in the Intermontane plateaus?
answers: text: 15 inches

question: In the southwest, how high do temperatures get?
answers: text: 100 °F (37.8 °C)

question: During which months are portions of the US affected by the monsoon from the Gulf of California?
answers: text: July to September

question: What type of weather do monsoons bring?
answers: text: severe thunderstorms

question: The great basin and what other region are semiarid?

question: The cascade Sierra Nevada receive how much precipitation on average

question: South-central United States is a hot desert with temperatures exceeding what?

question: The Southeast and great basin are affected by what?

question: Monsoons bring widespread what to the region?
context: The Great Basin and Columbia Plateau (the Intermontane Plateaus) are arid or semiarid regions that lie in the rain shadow of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada. Precipitation averages less than 15 inches (38 cm). The Southwest is a hot desert, with temperatures exceeding 100 °F (37.8 °C) for several weeks at a time in summer. The Southwest and the Great Basin are also affected by the monsoon from the Gulf of California from July to September, which brings localized but often severe thunderstorms to the region.

qas: question: What is the most prevalent type of climate nCalifornia?
answers: text: Mediterranean

question: During what time of the year does California receive the most rainfall?
answers: text: October–April

question: Which region of the US experiences rain year round?
answers: text: Pacific Northwest

question: Which region in the US is also one of the most snowiest places in the world?
answers: text: The Cascades

question: How many inches of snow do regions of the Cascades receive?
answers: text: 600 inches

question: California has little rainfall and what type of climate?

question: California receives the least amount of rainfall during what months?

question: The what mountains receive little precipitation and light snowfall? 

question: What mountain range averages under 600 inches of snow year?
context: Much of California consists of a Mediterranean climate, with sometimes excessive rainfall from October–April and nearly no rain the rest of the year. In the Pacific Northwest rain falls year-round, but is much heavier during winter and spring. The mountains of the west receive abundant precipitation and very heavy snowfall. The Cascades are one of the snowiest places in the world, with some places averaging over 600 inches (1,524 cm) of snow annually, but the lower elevations closer to the coast receive very little snow.

qas: question: Which mountainous region receives the highest snowfall on Earth?
answers: text: mountains of the western states

question: Which mountain in Washington receives the most amount of snowfall?
answers: text: Mount Rainier

question: What is the record amount of snowfall at Mount Rainer?
answers: text: 1,122 inches

question: In what year did Mount Rainer receive a record amount of snowfall?
answers: text: 1998-99

question: The Sierra Nevadas are located near which lake?
answers: text: Lake Tahoe

question: On average the mountains of the Western states receive the lowest levels of what?

question: The lowest annual snowfall level is on what mountain?

question: Mount Baker had the highest recorded snowfall and how many inches?

question: In what year did Mount Baker receive the highest recorded snowfall?

question: Other places significant snowfall in the cascade Range or what?
context: On average, the mountains of the western states receive the highest levels of snowfall on Earth. The greatest annual snowfall level is at Mount Rainier in Washington, at 692 inches (1,758 cm); the record there was 1,122 inches (2,850 cm) in the winter of 1971–72. This record was broken by the Mt. Baker Ski Area in northwestern Washington which reported 1,140 inches (2,896 cm) of snowfall for the 1998-99 snowfall season. Other places with significant snowfall outside the Cascade Range are the Wasatch Mountains, near the Great Salt Lake, the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, and the Sierra Nevada, near Lake Tahoe.

qas: question: Which regions in the East receives the most amount of snowfall?
answers: text: Great Lakes and the mountains of the Northeast

question: Which region of the US receives the most amount of rainfall?
answers: text: northwestern Pacific coast

question: What is the average amount of rainfall that the Quinault rainforest in Washington receives?
answers: text: 137 inches

question: Which state receives an average of 460 inches of rainfall per year?
answers: text: Hawaii

question: What is the name of the desert that is located in the driest region in the US?
answers: text: Mojave Desert

question: Which region of the East receives the least amount of snowfall?

question: Which region of the US receives the least amount of rainfall

question: Was named the rain force in Oregon?

question: What state receives an average of 400 inches of rainfall per year?

question: What is the name of the joys desert in the world?
context: In the east, while snowfall does not approach western levels, the region near the Great Lakes and the mountains of the Northeast receive the most. Along the northwestern Pacific coast, rainfall is greater than anywhere else in the continental U.S., with Quinault Rainforest in Washington having an average of 137 inches (348 cm). Hawaii receives even more, with 460 inches (1,168 cm) measured annually on Mount Waialeale, in Kauai. The Mojave Desert, in the southwest, is home to the driest locale in the U.S. Yuma, Arizona, has an average of 2.63 inches (6.7 cm) of precipitation each year.

qas: question: Where are tornadoes most common on Earth?
answers: text: central portions of the U.S.

question: During which seasons are tornados most common?
answers: text: spring and summer

question: Which regions experience the worst flooding in the US?
answers: text: Appalachian region and the Midwest

question: Which region experiences the worst droughts in the US?
answers: text: Southwest

question: What type of disasters affects the western US every year?
answers: text: wildfires

question: Where tornadoes least common on earth?

question: What are most common in the summer and fall?

question: Destructive hurricanes occur along the West Coast and where else?

question: The Northwest and what other region experienced the worst flooding in the US?

question: What disaster affects the Southwest every year?
context: In central portions of the U.S., tornadoes are more common than anywhere else on Earth and touch down most commonly in the spring and summer. Deadly and destructive hurricanes occur almost every year along the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. The Appalachian region and the Midwest experience the worst floods, though virtually no area in the U.S. is immune to flooding. The Southwest has the worst droughts; one is thought to have lasted over 500 years and to have hurt Ancestral Pueblo peoples. The West is affected by large wildfires each year.

qas: question: The Great Mississippi occurred during what year?
answers: text: 1927

question: What fuels wildfires and causes them to spread in the west?
answers: text: desert shrub

question: What type of storms can cause most activity to stop?
answers: text: Nor'Easter snowstorms

question: What is the name of the event that caused major flooding in the western US?
answers: text: El Niño

question: What is the name of the major event that caused flooding in the eastern United States?

question: The Mississippi did not flood during what year?

question: The narrow canyons of many mounds can lead to what?

question: What type of storms occur all over the East Coast?
context: Occasional severe flooding is experienced. There was the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the Great Flood of 1993, and widespread flooding and mudslides caused by the 1982-1983 El Niño event in the western United States. Localized flooding can, however, occur anywhere, and mudslides from heavy rain can cause problems in any mountainous area, particularly the Southwest. Large stretches of desert shrub in the west can fuel the spread of wildfires. The narrow canyons of many mountain areas in the west and severe thunderstorm activity during the summer lead to sometimes devastating flash floods as well, while Nor'Easter snowstorms can bring activity to a halt throughout the Northeast (although heavy snowstorms can occur almost anywhere).

qas: question: What is the area in the pacific known for heavy volcanic activity?
answers: text: Pacific Ring of Fire

question: The Pacific Ring of Fire contains what percentage of the earthquakes on Earth?
answers: text: 90%

question: Which Hawaiin volcano has been erupting since 1983?
answers: text: Kilauea

question: When was the last time that the Hawaiin islands experienced a life threatening volcanic eruption?
answers: text: 17th century

question: What year did Mt St. Helens erupt causing devastating damage?
answers: text: 1980

question: What volcano erupted in 1990?

question: What is the source of 80% of the world's earthquakes?

question: What Hawaiian volcano has been erupting since 1985?

question: When was the first time the Hawaiian Islands experienced a life-threatening volcanic eruption?

question: The American Southwest sees the highest concentration of what?
context: The West Coast of the continental United States and areas of Alaska (including the Aleutian Islands, the Alaskan Peninsula and southern Alaskan coast) make up part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of heavy tectonic and volcanic activity that is the source of 90% of the world's earthquakes.[citation needed] The American Northwest sees the highest concentration of active volcanoes in the United States, in Washington, Oregon and northern California along the Cascade Mountains. There are several active volcanoes located in the islands of Hawaii, including Kilauea in ongoing eruption since 1983, but they do not typically adversely affect the inhabitants of the islands. There has not been a major life-threatening eruption on the Hawaiian islands since the 17th century. Volcanic eruptions can occasionally be devastating, such as in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington.