Mount St Helens on ERUPTION brink: Four times more earthquakes recorded at active volcano

MOUNT St Helens volcano could be about to blow as more than 40 earthquakes have been recorded since New Year’s Day.

Multiple earthquakes hit near Mount St Helens

The volcano last erupted in 2008, but is known for its major eruption in 1980 that killed 57 people.

The explosion was the deadliest and most economically damaging volcanic event in the history of the United States. 

And with the mountain just 96 miles from Seattle and 50 miles from Portland, an eruption is especially dangerous.

Now almost 40 years later, experts claim the volcano could be about to blow again.

Mount St Helens volcano eruptionGETTY

Mount St Helens volcano could erupt after a series of earthquakes

A series of some 40 earthquakes have rumbled underground near the active volcano in Washington - with tremors continuing every year.

Residents as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Seattle have been left fearing Mount St Helens may erupt in an echo of 1980, which happened after a 5.1 magnitude earthquake and coated the region in ash and blew off the mountain's entire peak. 

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network said a 3.9 magnitude quake hit around 12:38 am on Wednesday.

Dozens of people throughout the region reported feeling the tremor, including those about 70 miles to the south in Portland. 

Mount St Helens volcano earthquakes mapPNSN

Dozens of quakes have been reported near Mount St Helens

It was followed minutes later by a 2.7 magnitude quake and dozens of smaller aftershocks have been hitting since then. 

And last month, University of Washington seismologists logged more than 80 quakes, a huge increase over the average 17 per month.

However experts have reassured locals that the ongoing quakes are not believed to be connected to magma in the volcano and instead are “pretty normal” shifting of the fault lines coincidentally close to the mountain.

Seth Moran, the scientist-in-charge at the US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory, said it's believed to be "pretty normal tectonic activity that just happened to be close" to the mountain.

He added: ”We don't think it's related to Mount St. Helens because the pattern of earthquakes, and the style of how they occur, is very different.”

And he claimed the pattern of one large shock followed by a series of weaker aftershocks is "typical, predictable and not that impressive" for the region.

Bill Steele, of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, added: "Mount St. Helens is the most active volcano in the Cascades and will likely erupt again in the coming decades, but this is to the northeast of the mountain and it's not in the magmatic system that feeds the volcano."

Mount St HelensGETTY

Mount St Helens last erupted in 2008

Mount St Helens eruptingGETTY

Almost 60 people were killed by Mount St Helens in 1980

According to the USGS, earthquakes are common in this area with about 1 to 5 occurring per month, although this is the largest recorded event.

In a statement, the agency said: "The last swarm here was in October 2010 with a magnitude 2 maximum.

"The M 3.9 is the second largest earthquake in the immediate Mount St. Helens area since 1981. There have been over 100 felt reports spanning the Portland area in the south to the Puget Sound in the north.

"The largest earthquake in the region was a M 4.2 at Johnston Ridge Observatory on Valentine's Day 2011."

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