![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Mount_Rainier_over_Tacoma.jpg/640px-Mount_Rainier_over_Tacoma.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Mount Rainier
stratovolcano in the U.S. state of Washington / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mount Rainier (/reɪˈnɪər/), known to Native Americans in the region as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ,[lower-alpha 1][3][4] is a large volcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest located in Mount Rainier National Park about 59 miles (95 km) south of Seattle.[5] Reaching to 14,411 ft (4,392 m),[6] it is the tallest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington and the Cascades.
Mount Rainier | |
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![]() Mount Rainier with Tacoma, Washington in front. | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 14,412 ft (4,393 m) |
Prominence | 13,211 ft (4,027 m)ranked 21st |
Isolation | 1,177 km (731 mi) ![]() |
Listing | U.S. state high point Ultra |
Coordinates | 46°51′10″N 121°45′37″W[1] |
Geography | |
Parent range | Cascade Range |
Topo map | USGS Mount Rainier West |
Geology | |
Age of rock | 500,000 years |
Mountain type | Stratovolcano |
Volcanic arc/belt | Cascade Volcanic Arc |
Last eruption | 1894 [2] |
Climbing | |
First ascent | 1870 by Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump |
Easiest route | rock/ice climb via Disappointment Cleaver |
Because it has a high risk of erupting in the future and is close to a high population, Mount Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world and is listed as a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior.[7] It hosts a large amount of glacial ice which could produce massive lahars (volcanic mudflows) that threaten the entire Puyallup River valley. According to the United States Geological Survey, "about 80,000 people and their homes are at risk in Mount Rainier's lahar-hazard zones."[8]
Between 1950 and 2018, 439,460 people climbed Mount Rainier and 84 people are reported to have died in accidents on the volcano between 1947 and 2018.[9][10]