Over 300 earthquake detected at Mount Rainier, Washington, biggest since 2009

A significant earthquake swarm was detected beneath Mount Rainier in Washington State, marking the most intense seismic activity in the area since 2009. Over 300 earthquakes have occurred since the early hours of Tuesday. But experts claim there is no need to panic yet. "Currently, there is no indication that the level of earthquake activity is cause for concern," the United States Geological Survey (USGS) explained, "Earthquakes are too small to be felt at the surface and will likely continue for several days. There would be no damage caused by such small events."

There had been widespread scientific interest and public curiosity around the swarms of earthquakes. Swarms are cluster of earthquakes that happens in rapid succession, with less than a minute apart. The volcano had been active for a really long time; however, the most recent volcanic eruption was 500-600 years ago.

“Right now, this swarm is still within what we consider normal background levels of activity at Mount Rainier,” said USGS, "Based on our observations, we think the most likely cause of the earthquakes is water moving around the crust above the magma chamber."

"The volcano is not 'due' for an eruption, and we do not see any signs of a potential eruption at this time," assured USGS.

Seismic Activity Overview

The earthquake swarm began around 1:29 a.m. PDT on July 8 and continues as of the time of this report. The recorded tremor magnitude ranges from the lowest 1.0 to the highest 2.3, occurring at depths of 2 to 6 kilometres from the volcano's summit. The USGS says that even if it is nothing to be worked up about, the seismic activity has not yet crossed the 2009 event, both by energy release and the number of earthquakes detected. The 2009 earthquake swarm resulted in more than 1,000 earthquakes, and the largest was of a 2.3 magnitude. According to the Cascades Volcano Observatory, about nine earthquakes per month are common at Mount Rainier.