Over the past eight weeks, a swarm of more than 130 small earthquakes have shaken the surface beneath Mount St. Helens. Although experts claim that there is no sign that the volcano is on the brink of erupting anytime soon, the current data from the events suggests that the volcano is still alive.
A swarm of earthquakes sounds pretty scary, but the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) claims that there are no anomalous gases and no signs that the magma - the molten rock beneath the surface of the earth - is undergoing inflation due to the tiny earthquakes at the volcano.
Despite the lack of an imminent eruption, the volcano is recharging, so an eruption is possible in the future, although not anytime soon.
Mount St. Helens is located in Washington state, 95 miles south of Seattle and approximately 55 miles northeast of Portland, Ore.
Each of the small earthquakes measures at a magnitude of 0.5 or less, with the largest being 1.3. Given these magnitudes and their locations - 1.2 to four miles beneath the surface - you wouldn't even be able to feel them if you were standing right above them on the surface.
However, scientists are paying attention to them not because of their magnitude or depth, but because of their frequency, which has been increasing since March 14, "reaching nearly 40 located earthquakes per week," according to the USGS.
The volcano's magma collection is re-pressurizing- a process that can go on for years without an eruption. In fact, similar patterns of small earthquake swarms have been observed in 2013, 2014 and the 1990s.
The nature of the earthquakes and their movement suggest that they stem from a slip on a small fault.
"Such events are commonly seen in active hydrothermal and magmatic systems," the USGS said. "The magma chamber is likely imparting its own stresses on the crust around and above it, as the system slowly recharges. The stress drives fluids through cracks, producing the small quakes."
The last time that Mount St. Helens erupted was on May 18, 1980, when it killed 57 people while leaving a massive crater in its wake and igniting forest fires that led to floods and the scattering of hot ash.
