Mount St. Helens Erupts with Three Quakes
By Mitch Battros – ECTV
Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that ash clouds that rise above the crater rim today would drift northeastward early in the day, and eastward later in the day.
Poor weather has prevented recent observations and field work. In the coming days, field crews will conduct visual and hydrological observations, replace and maintain seismic equipment, and attempt gas and thermal-imaging measurements as weather permits.
The U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington continue to monitor the situation closely and will issue additional updates and changes in alert level as warranted.
Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continues, accompanied by minor emissions of steam and ash. During such eruptions, episodic changes in the level of activity can occur over days to months. Increase in the intensity of the eruption could occur suddenly or with little warning and may include explosions that produce hazardous conditions within several miles of the crater. Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard to people along the river channel upstream of the SRS.
Although considered less likely, the current activity could evolve into a more explosive phase that affects areas farther away and sends significant ash thousands of feet above the crater where it could be a hazard to aircraft and to downwind communities.
OTHER CASCADE VOLCANOES
All other volcanoes in the Cascade Range are all at normal levels of background seismicity. These include Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, and Mount Adams in Washington State; Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, Three Sisters, Newberry, and Crater Lake, in Oregon; and Medicine Lake, Mount Shasta, and Lassen Peak in northern California.
Mitch Battros
Producer - Earth Changes TV
http://www.earthchangestv.com
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