Mount St. Helens shakes 120 times within a week, indicating recharging

[TexasTowelie]

In less than a week in late November, four swarms of more than 120 earthquakes shook Mount St. Helens. Although they were too small to be felt even by someone standing directly over their epicenters, scientists say they reveal the volcano is likely recharging.

“Each of these little earthquakes is a clue and a reminder we are marching toward an eruption someday,” said Weston Thelen, a U.S. Geological Survey seismologist with the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver.

However, “there’s nothing in this little modest seismicity, and none since 2008, that is a really good indicator of when that eruption will be.”

The earthquakes occurred between 1 and 2 miles below the surface, and most registered at magnitudes of 0.3 or less. The largest was a magnitude 0.5. While the quakes are too small for human perception, scientists are able to study them thanks to sensitive seismometers stationed around the mountain.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article120498368.html

[HassleCat]

1. I'm boycotting that mountain

It was incredibly beautiful before it blew.

[Warpy]

2. Fortunately, the dome is too small to do a great deal of damage when it blows

because eruptions have been small and frequent since 1980. Stratovolcanoes are dangerous when they get quiet and picturesque.

Too bad it waited for the winter rains to wake up. Won't be much to see this time.