Mount St. Helens Steaming

The Washington volcano that famously erupted on May 18, 1980, is grumbling once again. Two small earthquakes — one registering 2.9-magnitude on the Richter Scale, the other 2.7 — are likely linked to the steam rising from a fracture atop a lava dome on the volcano’s southwest edge.

The steam is a sign that magma or gases are moving beneath St. Helens. When it erupted in 1980, lava destroyed 230 square miles of forest and left 57 people missing or dead. The last noteworthy tremor came in 2004, and was much more powerful than this one.

No evacuations have been ordered, but scientists have ceased studies inside the crater.

Click here to read more and see a picture of St. Helens.