Earthquake Hits Under Mt. Rainier’s Crater

Mt. Rainier shook with a 3.2-magnitude earthquake under the volcanic crater, but scientists said that the quake was not related to activity at Mt. St. Helens and did not signal an eruption.

The tremor was centered one mile below the surface of Rainier’s volcanic crater, said Bill Steele, coordinator of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network at the University of Washington.

“Directly under the volcano, that’s a significant size,” Steele said. “This doesn’t mean there’s an increased chance of eruption, but we will watch it carefully.”