The next national disaster for Shrub to ignore?

100-square-mile bulge keeps getting bigger
Oregon oddity could be another volcano in the making

Associated Press
Updated: 8:38 p.m. ET Sept. 6, 2005

BEND, Ore. - A recent survey of a bulge that covers about 100 square miles near the South Sister indicates the area is still growing, suggesting it could be another volcano in the making or a major shift of molten rock under the center of the Cascade Range.

Recent eruptions at nearby Mount St. Helens in Washington state have rekindled interest in the annual Sisters survey and its findings.

Oregon has four of the 18 most active volcanoes in the nation — Mount Hood, Crater Lake, Newberry and South Sister.

A recent U.S. Geological Survey report said monitoring is inadequate at all of them, with only basic monitoring at about half of the active volcanoes.