Broken Top poses significant hazards to the surrounding area, especially within the proximal hazard zone with a diameter of that surrounds Broken Top and the Three Sisters. A landslide at Broken Top, or an eruption from the nearby South Sister, could initiate a lahar (rapid flows of water, rock, and mud) that could cascade down river valleys in the surrounding area. While smaller landslides of less than are more probable than huge avalanches, they can still cause significant damage and cause lahars. Larger landslide events would most likely be the result of magma intrusion, and thus they would be predicted in advance by seismometers and volcanic surveying devices.