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Tremors at one of America’s most dangerous volcanoes spark eruption fears

One of America’s deadliest volcanoes has been rumbling for a 72-hour period — leading to fears that an eruption may soon come. Mount Rainier is considered as one of America’s most dangerous volcanoes as it looms over millions of people living in major cities such as Seattle, Tacoma, and Yakima in Washington, and Oregon. So, what is going on? (Picture: Getty)

What is Mount Rainier? 

Mount Rainier is a stratovolcano that stretches to almost 4,500m high. The volcano is the highest peak in the Cascade Range in Washington. The volcano has erupted before, around 5,600 years ago, when part of Mount Rainier collapsed to form a larger crater at the northeast, like Mount St Helen’s did after 1980. But the last magmatic eruption occurred around 1,000 years ago. (Picture: Getty)
Since the weekend, Mount Rainier has been buzzing with non-stop activity, as near constant vibrations beneath the surface have been causing small earthquakes. The seismic rumblings were spotted by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN), where seismometers on Mount Rainier have recorded three straight days of almost constant high-energy seismic signals across the west flank of the volcano. (Picture: Getty)
However, it is important to note that Mount Rainier is not currently on the verge of an eruption, but the tremors which seem to be volcanic – a type of nonstop hum or roar that begins when magma, hot water, and gas moves around inside a volcano – could be a warning that volcanic activity could eventually build towards a critical level. So, geologists will be keeping an eye out for any volcanic tremor escalating, including its severity in the coming days. (Picture: Getty)
If Mount Rainier was to erupt, it wouldn’t be like your standard volcano. The main danger would be lahars – which is a swiftly moving slurry of water and volcanic rock coming from ice or snow that has been rapidly melted by an eruption that picks up debris as it flows through valleys and drainage channels. In a blog, the US Geological Survey wrote: ‘New eruptions of Mount Rainier will most likely start with steam and ash explosions at the summit, and progress to the effusion of a small lava flow or the disintegration of steeply sloping lava flows as avalanches of hot rock and gas called a pyroclastic flow. Either type of eruption will probably create lahars that can reach heavily populated areas.’ (Picture: Getty)
The Daily Mail reports that seismometers registered a sharp spike around 5am ET on Saturday, which proceeded to grow in strength throughout the day. On the instruments, this was recorded as a line that continued to get fuzzier and fuzzier as more time passed, eventually looking like a thick black line as the vibrations increased. On Monday, the readings showed an almost solid black line, revealing overlapping vibrations, but none of the next warning signs for an eruption have emerged on Tuesday, so the threat level has not been raised by USGS. (Picture: Getty)
The reports come after Mount Rainier experienced swarms of earthquakes in July, with over 1,000 earthquakes recorded in three weeks, in the largest ever seismic swarm recorded at the mountain. There were up to 41 minor earthquakes registering every hour throughout the rest of the month, from July 8. This volcanic tremor has been one of the longest episodes at Rainier in recent years, and USGS continues to list the overall risk of a future eruption as ‘Very High.’ (Picture: Getty)
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