Earthquakes rock Mt. Saint Helens– will it erupt soon?

Since March 14, Mount Saint Helens has been rocked by more than 130 small earthquakes, plus many more earthquakes too small to be located.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, these earthquakes have topped out at a magnitude of 1.3 on the Richter scale—but the majority have been at a magnitude of 0.5 or less, and they’ve been occurring at depths between 1.2 to four miles (2 to 7 km), meaning you wouldn’t be able to feel them on the surface. However, the number of earthquakes has been rising steadily, and now there are nearly 40 earthquakes every week.

The USGS believes that the magma chamber below Mount Saint Helens is likely recharging, which puts stress on the crust around and above it. This stress drives fluids through cracks in the crust—the cause of the small quakes.

Will there be an eruption any time soon?

In the immortal words of Douglas Adams, don’t panic—we’re not likely to see an immediate eruption. As of right now, all the red flags that indicate a volcano is about to blow—anomalous gases, increases in ground inflation or shallow seismicity, et cetera—have not been detected. In fact, this magma recharge can continue for many years—like what happened for 19 years before the 2004 eruption.

Located in Washington State, Mount Saint Helens, of course, is famous for its catastrophic eruption in 1980. Preceded by two months of earthquakes and steam-venting, a 5.1-magnitude earthquake first created the largest landslide ever recorded. Topping out at 155 miles per hour (250 kmh), it carried about 0.7 cubic miles (2.9 cubic km) worth of debris—and triggered the eruption. By the end, Mount Saint Helens was reduced more than 1,300 feet in elevation and 57 people had been killed.

Naturally, this has led to Mount Saint Helens being one of the most closely-monitored volcanoes on Earth.

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Image credit: Thinkstock

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