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‘High threat’ volcano in Washington state rumbling at record rate, prompting alert from geologists

By
Natalie O'Neill
Published Oct. 17, 2024, 7:45 p.m. ET

Here’s hoping it’s nothing to blow your lid over.

A normally quiet “high threat” volcano in Washington state has been rumbling at a record rate — prompting an alert from geologists who ultimately said there’s little chance it will erupt soon.

Mount Adams — a breathtaking snow-capped peak in the state’s southern region — has been struck by seven low-intensity earthquakes since September, according to the Cascades Volcano Observatory.

The number of quakes, which ranged in magnitude from 0.9 to 2.0, is highly unusual for the 12,200-foot mountain, which is generally hit by just one every two or three years.

Mount Adams
Mount Adams has been rattled by seven low-grade earthquakes since September, prompting an alert. Getty Images

The flurry of rumblings prompted the United States Geological Survey to send out an alert earlier this month — and to install three new seismic stations to monitor it.

But the trembling alone is not a sign that there’s an imminent threat it will blow, said Jon Major, scientist-in-charge at the Cascades Volcano Observatory.

“Right now, there’s no cause for concern,” said Major. “If they start to pick up more earthquakes, or if earthquakes start to get larger — if they start to be shallow and more frequent — then we would probably start to take a closer look,” he told The Washington Post.

He called the series of shakes, “a little out of character for this volcano.”

Signs that a volcano is “starting to wake back up” include a large increase in earthquakes, ground deformation and a surge in gas emissions — none of which are happening, said Holly Weiss-Racine, a geologist with the Volcano Observatory.

“Right now, we’re not seeing any of those things,” Weiss-Racine told the Washington State Standard earlier this month.

She called the spike in quakes “interesting” but “nothing meaningful”

Mount Adams
The volcano hasn’t seen so much seismic activity since geologists began recording earthquakes there in 1982. UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Overall, there have been 10 quakes at Mount Adams — the state’s second-tallest volcano after Mount Rainier — so far this year.

In September alone, there were six earthquakes at the volcano, the most ever recorded there in a single month.

If the volcano were to erupt, it would be different than Mount St. Helens’ disastrous blast, which killed 57 people and covered much of the region with ash in 1980, Weiss-Racine said.

“It’s not a very explosive volcano. It doesn’t produce a lot of ash,” she said, adding it would instead spew thick lava flows.

The most recent satellite imagery shows no bulging or deformation of the mountain from magma moving to the surface.  It has also not been spewing gases, geologists said.

With Post wires