Hopefully, this is nothing.
The US Geological Survey reported that hundreds of earthquakes occurred in Washington State on Tuesday morning.
The earthquakes occurred below Mt. Rainier in the Cascade Mountain Range.
The New York Post provided further details on the earthquakes and whether they are a threat to residents in the area:
A swarm of hundreds of small earthquakes has been detected rumbling deep below Mt. Rainier in Washington State early Tuesday morning, though geologists stress there is no cause for concern.
The quakes began just before 1:30 a.m. and have been occurring at a rate of several times per minute, said officials with the US Geological Survey at the Cascade Volcano Observatory.
All the quakes have been occurring between 1.2 and 3.7 miles beneath the summit, and have been small in magnitude.
The largest quake measured so far is 1.7, and none have been felt at the surface.
According to the USGS, quake swarms occur a couple of times a year, on average, under the state’s tallest volcano, though this one is a bit unusual in terms of the number of quakes.
“Currently, there is no indication that the level of earthquake activity is cause for concern, and the alert level and color code for Mount Rainier remain at (Green/Normal),” the USGS wrote in a Tuesday morning press release. “Instruments do not show any detectable ground deformation at the volcano, and no anomalous signals have been seen on the infrasound monitoring stations.”
An earthquake swarm began at Mt. Rainier, WA, at 1:29 am PDT on July 8. Map shows current swarm (orange) with all earthquakes located since 2020 (blue). According to @PNSN, hundreds of events have occurred thus far (max M1.7). This is the largest swarm at Mt. Rainier since 2009. pic.twitter.com/0nrnpohN6u
— USGS Volcanoes🌋 (@USGSVolcanoes) July 8, 2025
Mt. Rainier earthquake swarm today with hundreds of mini quakes! Most significant seismic acitivity since 2009! 🏔️🫨
Should we be worried? @fox13seattle #mountrainier #mtrainier #earthquake #washington pic.twitter.com/iz5BFoMc7J
— Claire Anderson (@ClaireA_Wx) July 9, 2025
So, how dangerous is Mt. Rainier?
USGS had these details to add:
Although Mount Rainier has not produced a significant eruption in the past 500 years, it is potentially the most dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range because of its great height, frequent earthquakes, active hydrothermal system, and extensive glacier mantle.
Mount Rainier has 25 major glaciers containing more than five times as much snow and ice as all the other Cascade volcanoes combined. If only a small part of this ice were melted by volcanic activity, it would yield enough water to trigger enormous lahars (debris flows and mudflows that originate on a volcano).
Mount Rainier’s potential for generating destructive mudflows is enhanced by its great height above surrounding valleys.
How would approach this?
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!