Western Railroad Discussion > Is Mt. St. Helens going to erupt soon?

She's been rocked by many, many small earthquakes the past 48 hours. Scroll down this page to the St. Helens Dome Station webicorder. Check out the four 12 hour periods for 11-2, and 11-3. 11-4 has many, many earthquakes too. http://www.geophys.washington.edu/SEIS/PNSN/WEBICORDER/welcome.html
I'm no expert on volcanoes. But something is going on there. I've never seen so many earthquakes happen at the volcano. Are there still any logging railroads near the volcano?

Though not widely know, Mt. St Helens is DIRECTLY opposite the cave where Uslama Bin Ladin is hiding in, on the other side of the world.
This is his ultimate plan. Disrupt life in the US by stopping what logging railroads the environmentalists haven't! He probably read in an old issue of TRAINS how messed up the BN and UP engine in Washington state got with clogged fuel filters back in 1980.

<g>

:::quivers:::

Ohhh noooo!!!!

Actually, he needs to quit hiding in a cave. Did any of you see that beard of his getting some gray creeping around? Hes scared! For each bomb we drop, a streak of hair in his beard turns gray...

~Chris

Earthquake swarms like this are pretty common features of all the Cascade volcanoes, I think. Doesn't mean anything by itself--just keeps the geologists on their toes. Lots of earthquakes (including some pretty big ones) in the Mammoth Lakes area of eastern California back in the 1970s and 80s, but no eruptions. I understand the place in the Cascades that has the geologists concerned right now is the Three Sisters area of Oregon.

Winston Hill

Are the Three Sisiters the ones that have been growing inches a year? Pretty fast in geologic terms!!

Lots of activity, but not necessarily a precursor to a major eruption. If there was some major venting, then I would be concerned.

chilli is the the man. chilli where have you been. we missed you.

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/update.html Sounds like it ain't a big deal. Maybe it is Osama in a cave? hehehehe

Ya, I am sure than Bin Ladden is also responsible for the buldge and earthquakes on the South Sister too!

Gregg->

Taken from the USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory release:
Submitted at 19:00 PST, November 3, 2001
Volcanoes in the Cascade Range are all at normal levels of background seismicity. These include Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens in Washington State; Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, Three Sisters, Newberry, and Crater Lake, in Oregon; and Medicine Lake, Mount Shasta, and Lassen Peak in northern California.

Ongoing Earthquake Swarm at Mount St. Helens: During the past 24 hours and continuing at present (6 P.M. PST), about 200 very small (less than magnitude 0) earthquakes have been recorded at Mount St. Helens. The earthquakes are occurring at shallow depths (less than 1 kilometer, or 1/2 mile) mostly in or under the north flank of the lava dome, which formed between 1980 and 1986. Such earthquakes are common at St. Helens, but we have not recorded a swarm with this many earthquakes for several years. The cause of the earthquakes is uncertain, but may reflect increased ground-water levels with the onset of autumn rain. Such an increase may cause slippage on fractures in and below the lava dome and crater floor. The probability of small landslides and debris flows in the crater is enhanced during these periods. Such events could affect areas several kilometers (miles) north of the crater on the Pumice Plain. The probability of small steam explosions that hurl rocks a few hundred meters (yards) may also be increased during periods with increased shallow earthquakes. Larger-scale eruptions are unlikely without significant additional precursory activity.

The last period of increased earthquake activity at Mount St. Helens occurred in the spring and summer of 1998 when hundreds of earthquakes per month, many larger than M=2, were detected at depths as great as 9 kilometers (6 miles). An intrusion of magma, or molten rock, deep under the volcano and resulting increased gas pressure in the conduit that leads to the lava dome likely caused this increase in earthquakes. The current swarm is different in that the events are typically much smaller and shallower. We see no evidence that an intrusion similar to that of 1998 is underway.

Officials with the Gifford Pinchot National Forest ask that recreationists in the Spirit Lake basin and North Fork Toutle River valley north of the crater remain alert for possible debris flows. Loud rumbling noises may indicate that a debris flow is approaching. People that hear such sounds should immediately get away from stream channels and to higher ground.

We continue to monitor the situation closely and will issue additional Information Statements only if conditions change significantly.

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network at the University of Washington, and the USGS Northern California Seismic Network and Volcano Hazards Team in Menlo Park, California, monitor the major volcanoes in the Cascade Range of northern California, Oregon, and Washington.