(NewsNation) — Earthquake activity around Mount St. Helens spiked to nearly 350 quakes between February 1 and June 18, spurring concerns that the volcano is “recharging.”
While it may sound terrifying, Wes Thelen of the U.S. Geological Survey says it’s a standard part of the volcano’s cycle.
“Recharging is just the way that we talk about the little pieces of magma moving into the mid-crustal magma chamber; that’s about five miles below the crater floor,” he said. “And we’re just talking about little pieces of magma coming up. It’s all part of normal activity between eruptions at Mount St. Helens.”
While the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory says it will continue to monitor this activity and will provide any updates or warnings if warranted, Thelen isn’t worried at the moment.
“I am not concerned. This is really just something that’s interesting,” he said. “We know people are looking at the public data that we have available on our websites and our partners’ websites. And we’re just looking to give them a little bit of context in terms of what this means.”
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, killing 57 people, blasting more than 1,300 feet off the top and raining volcanic ash for miles around. Today, the volcano has become a world-class outdoor laboratory for the study of volcanoes, ecosystems and forestry as well as a major recreational and tourist destination.
Thelen believes the next eruption isn’t likely to be as catastrophic.
“We know that the most likely type of eruption is something that’s just going to build a dome,” he said. “(It would) likely impact the area right around the volcano, not something big and spectacular like we all have seen in pictures from 1980.”