USGS Watching Mount St. Helen's Volcano Following Earthquake Swarm

Source: Yahoo News

The United States Geological Survey is watching the Mount St. Helen's volcano closely after a series of earthquakes struck on Monday. The area around Mount St. Helen's in Washington state has been experiencing minor earthquakes since an initial quake measuring 4.3 in magnitude struck around 10:35 a.m. local time, according to the USGS. Since that first quake, several smaller aftershocks were registered ranging between 1.0 and 2.8 in magnitude.

All of these earthquakes were centered in an area approximately five to six miles north of the Mount St. Helen's crater near the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The quakes were registered at depths between 1.7 and 3.7 miles. In total, at least 12 small earthquakes were registered in the area since the first quake on Monday.

This series of small earthquakes occurring in approximately the same location over a short period of time is known as an earthquake swarm. According to the Global Volcanic Earthquake Swarm Database earthquake swarms are especially common around volcanoes and are often reliable methods of predicting an eruption but the Alaska Volcano Observatory website offered that there may be no need for alarm. The AVO website explained that while earthquake swarms may offer information that a volcano is becoming restless, they are not necessarily indicators of a pending eruption. According to the AVO, "Most seismic swarms are not precursors to eruptions."

The AVO website states that a great deal of seismic data from satellite imagery, deformation, gas measurements and the history of the volcano's geologic past are all taken into consideration when determining an eruption risk.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110216/sc_ac/7864744_usgs_watching_mount_st_helens_volcano_following_earthquake_swarm

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MAP 2.2 2011/02/15 19:53:54 46.303 -122.182 10.5 11 km ( 7 mi) N of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 2.2 2011/02/15 05:09:32 46.279 -122.218 4.7 9 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.1 2011/02/15 02:19:29 46.279 -122.212 3.6 9 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.0 2011/02/15 00:53:39 46.280 -122.214 3.1 9 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 2.3 2011/02/14 20:21:42 46.278 -122.216 4.7 9 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.1 2011/02/14 19:54:51 46.274 -122.215 2.8 9 km ( 5 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 2.3 2011/02/14 19:35:08 46.285 -122.216 5.4 10 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.1 2011/02/14 19:12:06 46.276 -122.211 3.8 9 km ( 5 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.3 2011/02/14 19:01:25 46.279 -122.212 4.9 9 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.3 2011/02/14 18:54:06 46.285 -122.213 6.0 10 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 1.2 2011/02/14 18:47:55 46.279 -122.208 4.6 9 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 2.8 2011/02/14 18:37:45 46.280 -122.209 4.5 9 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA
MAP 4.3 2011/02/14 18:35:25 46.282 -122.212 5.5 9 km ( 6 mi) NNW of Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US2/45.47.-123.-121_eqs.php

but was surprised to hear about all the "swarms". Good to hear that swarms generally aren't an indication of impending BOOM! This sounds odd, but better Mount St. Helens than Mount Rainier, IMO. Too many residents in the area, although the ash from either one would be bad.

Hopefully, nothing big will occur.

Thanks for posting! :hi:

:hi:

can you post your pictures of Mt. St. Helen Valcano, or send me email

photos is looking right into hole in the crater floor.

pretty please?

but that was it. My coworker up front felt and heard it.

If Mount St. Helen's sets off a bunch of big quakes, the entire Cascadian Range could be affected thus triggering off earthquakes all the way south of Mt. Lassen in California. :scared:

Stay quiet Mount St. Helen's please!!

:kick:

There's no "apostrophe s" at the end. It's Mt. Saint Helens.