<P> The volcano is highly eroded, with glaciers on its slopes, and appears to be made mostly of andesite . Rainier likely once stood even higher than today at about 16,000 ft (4,900 m) before a major debris avalanche and the resulting Osceola Mudflow approximately 5,000 years ago . In the past, Rainier has had large debris avalanches, and has also produced enormous lahars (volcanic mudflows) due to the large amount of glacial ice present . Its lahars have reached all the way to Puget Sound, a distance of more than 30 mi (48 km). Around 5,000 years ago, a large chunk of the volcano slid away and that debris avalanche helped to produce the massive Osceola Mudflow, which went all the way to the site of present - day Tacoma and south Seattle . This massive avalanche of rock and ice removed the top 1,600 ft (500 m) of Rainier, bringing its height down to around 14,100 ft (4,300 m). About 530 to 550 years ago, the Electron Mudflow occurred, although this was not as large - scale as the Osceola Mudflow . </P> <P> After the major collapse approximately 5,000 years ago, subsequent eruptions of lava and tephra built up the modern summit cone until about as recently as 1,000 years ago . As many as 11 Holocene tephra layers have been found . </P> <P> The most recent recorded volcanic eruption was between 1820 and 1854, but many eyewitnesses reported eruptive activity in 1858, 1870, 1879, 1882 and 1894 as well . </P> <P> Although Mount Rainier is now dormant, as of 2016 Seismic monitors have been located in Mount Rainier National Park and on the mountain itself to monitor activity . However, an eruption could be deadly for all living in areas within the immediate vicinity of the volcano and an eruption would also cause trouble from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to San Francisco because of the massive amounts of ash blasting out of the volcano into the atmosphere . </P>

When did mt. rainier last have a significant eruption