It's Probably Nothing: Magma Rising in Mount St. Helens Volcano
From Reuters:
Magma levels are
slowly rebuilding inside Mount St. Helens, a volcano in Washington state
that erupted in 1980 and killed 57 people, although there was no sign
of an impending eruption, U.S. scientists said.
The roughly 8,300-foot volcano
erupted in an explosion of hot ash and gas on May 18, 1980, spewing
debris over some 230 square miles and causing more than a billion
dollars in property damage. Entire forests were crushed and river
systems altered in the blast, which began with a 5.2 magnitude
earthquake.
"The magma reservoir
beneath Mount St. Helens has been slowly re-pressurizing since 2008,"
the U.S. Geological Survey said in a statement on Wednesday. "It is
likely that re-pressurization is caused by (the) arrival of a small
amount of additional magma 4 to 8 km (2.5 to 5 miles) beneath the
surface."
The USGS said this is to be expected with an active volcano and does not indicate "the volcano is likely to erupt anytime soon."...MORE
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