A spike in earthquakes at the Washington volcano leads to increased monitoring by scientists

Scientists deploy monitors at volcanic Mount Adams in Washington state after a spike in seismic activity.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said Mount Adams typically experiences an earthquake every two to three years, but in September alone there were six earthquakes, the most in a single month since monitoring began in 1982.

The earthquakes were monitored by the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) and ranged in magnitudes from 0.9 to 2.0. None of the earthquakes were felt on the surface, the USGS said.

With only one seismic station near the volcano, monitoring options are limited, according to the USGS.

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Washington, Mount Adams in the Cascade Range is the second highest mountain in Washington State. It is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range. (Educational Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

CVO and PNSN plan to install temporary seismic stations near Mount Adams to help detect smaller earthquakes while obtaining better estimates of their magnitude, location and depth. The data will help scientists assess the significance of the increased seismic activity near the volcano.

With permission from the US Forest Service, CVO will locate the temporary stations south and southwest of Mount Adams. Once activated, the data is sent to CVO and PNSN in real time.

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On October 3, 2024, scientists from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory and US Forest Service installed new temporary seismic stations at Mount Adams volcano in south-central Washington. (USGS)

Despite the spike in seismic activity, the USGS says there is no indication of concern and the alert level and color code for Mount Adams remain at Green and Normal.

Mount Adams is located in south-central Washington, nearly 50 miles west-southwest of Yakima, Washington.

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Scientists from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory are installing a temporary seismic station on Mount Adams. (USGS)

In the north-south trending Mount Adams-King Mountain volcanic field with more than 120 smaller volcanoes, Mount Adams is the most prominent peak. It is also the second-highest volcano in Washington and the state’s largest active volcano by volume and area, according to the USGS.

The agency said there have been four lava flows in the past 12,000 years that started at the volcano’s platform and two vents along the southern ridge. The streams have typically traveled only a few kilometers from their vents.

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On October 3, 2024, USGS and the USFS installed a new Adams South Climbers Route (ASCR) temporary seismic station on Mount Adams. (USGS)

The last time Mount Adams erupted was between 3,800 and 7,600 years ago, the USGS added.

But one of the biggest threats to people living near the volcano are lahars, or muddy streams of rock, ash and ice that flow downstream like fast-flowing concrete.

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The summit, which is covered in ice, also covers large amounts of hydrothermally weakened rock, which, if weakened by future landslides, could generate lahars.