'Every volcano has its own personality': Increasing mystery Mount Adams earthquake under investigation

Scientists are trying to determine the cause of an unusual increase in earthquakes at Mount Adams volcano in Washington state, by installing several temporary seismic stations at the site.

In September, six small earthquakes were recorded at the “major threat” volcano. Typically, it experiences only one earthquake every two to three years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO).

“We are now working to collect more data to evaluate whether this is truly something unusual or just a volcano that is talking to us a little more than it normally does,” John Major, the scientist in charge of the CVO, told Live Science in an email. .

“Our volcanoes are chattering all the time,” he said, adding that nearby Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier often experience 10 to 20 earthquakes a month. “Some volcanoes, such as St. Helens, Rainier, and Mount Hood, undergo episodes of increased seismic frequency where we see bursts of many earthquakes, which may last for days to weeks,” he said. “This is all part and parcel of the background activity at our Cascades volcanoes. So what we're seeing at Mount Adams is far from unusual for Cascades volcanoes — but it's different for Mount Adams.”

At 12,277 feet (3,742 meters) high and 18 miles (29 kilometers) wide, Mount Adams is the largest active volcano in Washington, surpassing Mount Rainier — the state's highest peak — in size.

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The increase in earthquake activity, including another 0.9 magnitude earthquake on Sunday (October 6), does not indicate an eruption. The earthquakes were very small, ranging in magnitude from 0.9 to 2 magnitude. Major said: “If a person had been standing at Mount Adams or near it, he would not have felt these earthquakes.” He added that the last eruption of the volcano was about 4,000 years ago, but this relatively long period does not mean that the eruption is imminent. “Every volcano has its own personality, and it does not erupt in any particular cycle,” he said. “Some of them may erupt and then become active intermittently for decades or centuries, then return to a dormant state for centuries to thousands of years.”

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Mount Adams generally produces pyroclastic eruptions, characterized by slow-moving lava flows rather than destructive, explosive eruptions. The summit contains a large section of unstable and weak rock. If an eruption occurs, the main danger will come from mudslides, or muddy flows of rock, ash and ice “that flow downstream like rapidly flowing concrete,” a USGS representative wrote in a statement.

Major said volcanoes in general “will emit very loudly” if they are headed toward eruption, triggering a lot of earthquakes that increase in size and frequency. The recent wave of light earthquakes does not fit this pattern.

Maps showing the current seismic network at Mount Adams, and the planned temporary stations being installed. (Image credit: Cascades Volcano Observatory)

The ground surrounding the volcano will also deform as magma rises — something that can be verified using GPS and satellite monitoring — and the volcano begins to release gases. “Those are the main things we're monitoring to give us an idea of ​​whether or not a volcano is headed toward an eruption,” Major said. “We fully expect to see these types of changes at any of our volcanoes if they start moving toward an eruption.”

At present, Mount Adams has one permanent seismic station about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of the summit. Major said there are plans to install more permanent stations at the site next summer.

“At this point, we don't have enough data to say much about anything,” he added. “After the new [temporary] “If the stations we are installing have the opportunity to collect data for a period of time, we will be in a much better position to evaluate the possible causes and significance of this seismic activity and then determine whether any further action is needed.”

David Pyle, a volcanologist at the University of Oxford in the UK, said the recent quakes could be caused by “a whole range of processes”, including the creaking of rocks due to internal pressures and tensions.

“At Mount Adams, the small cluster of events detected was out of the ordinary, given how quiet the volcano has been over the past 40 years,” he told Live Science in an email. “This is not a cause for concern, and it is too early to diagnose the cause, but the Sentinel Seismometer.” [the permanent station] “It has done its job, and the team monitoring the volcano will now be able to observe the Earth's interior more closely, using the combination of ground-based instruments and satellites they have access to.”

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