Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 August 15

= August 15 =

Mount St. Helena?
Is Mount St. Helena a volcano that has erupted before? If so, when was its last eruption? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.91.28.66 (talk) 17:18, 15 August 2015 (UTC)
 * About 3.4 million years ago, it turned the forest to stone, and turned its own stone to dragonglass. InedibleHulk (talk) 17:58, 15 August 2015 (UTC)
 * ... Unless the question is actually about Mount St. Helens. Looie496 (talk) 19:22, 15 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Unless the question is about Mount Holly? Why would we second-guess such an obvious question? μηδείς (talk) 02:56, 16 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Doubt, surely. InedibleHulk (talk) 15:25, 16 August 2015 (UTC)


 * ... I thought its last eruption was as recent as 1980 AD ... --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  07:52, 17 August 2015 (UTC)


 * ... and if we are assuming that the question was about Mount St. Helens (as seems logical to me but not to Medeis) then the previous occasion was around 1842. Perhaps the OP can come back to clarify whether there was a one-letter typo.    D b f i r s   08:15, 17 August 2015 (UTC)
 * That would be a two-letter typo. Header and question. Hard to assume a mistake when it happens again, almost immediately. I had the feeling it was designed to fool us, though. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:05, 17 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Not necessarily a typo at all. If the OP believes the volcano in Washington state is called Mount St Helena, then they're being quite consistent in that mistaken belief.  I always say: If you're going to be wrong, at least be consistently wrong. For after all, consistency is just that: consistancy.  )  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  06:25, 18 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Of course, St. Helens is better known (and especially better known as a volcano) than St. Helena. But really that's the only reason to even consider that the OP might have meant St. Helens, and even that reason, ultimately, works against the hypothesis &mdash; because if the OP knew of St. Helens, he/she would have probably not needed to ask whether it was a "volcano that ha[d] erupted before".  So while the thought of St. Helens crossed my mind as well, ultimately, I have to agree with Medeis &mdash; the OP meant St. Helena and there's no reason to think otherwise. --Trovatore (talk) 06:34, 18 August 2015 (UTC)
 * The OP geolocates to northern California, so it's reasonable to suppose that he meant what he said. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:17, 18 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Hey, there are at least a hundred "real" people in Los Angeles alone. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:17, 18 August 2015 (UTC)
 * ? --Trovatore (talk) 21:21, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Figured Bugs might be thinking in stereotypes. SoCal has a bit of a phony image, even away from Hollywood proper. Could have also been thinking only locals can seriously wonder about local geography. Judging motives can be tricky. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:05, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * And who mentioned Southern California? --Trovatore (talk) 22:32, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Nobody. Just implied by suggesting we can trust Northern Californians. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:48, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * The mountain in question is in NorCal. --Trovatore (talk) 23:05, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * It sure is. So I wrote the joke small. A bit safer to presume he meant people are better trusted to link to the right article when the topic is local. Personally, I can't count the number of times I've had to remove the mass suicide part from Jon Jones, thanks to IPs from Eastern New York and Jonestown (the Guyanese one, not the Lebanese). InedibleHulk (talk) 23:38, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, I meant that the mountain is in the same general area where the OP geolocates, hence it was more likely he'd be asking about that mountain than about the similarly-named mountain two states away. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:02, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

Mount Shasta 1786 eruption
Just wondering, how much damage was caused by the 1786 eruption of Mount Shasta? Deaths in 2013 (talk) 17:48, 15 August 2015 (UTC)
 * According to Wikipedia, hot (and cold) mud and lava flowed 12.1 km down the east flank, down Ash Creek. Doesn't seem so bad. However, it may have been the end of Llao. InedibleHulk (talk) 18:08, 15 August 2015 (UTC)