So, a cluster of small quakes have struck in Mount Baker’s shadow — should we be worried?
A cluster of 14 small earthquakes has struck in the past week only about 14 miles from the summit of Mount Baker, the United States Geological Survey reports. Two of those quakes struck Friday morning and another in the late afternoon.
But is that something those of us who live near the active volcano should be worried about?
“No, Mount Baker is not about to erupt, nor is it displaying any signs of unrest,” a tweet from the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network Thursday read. “This quake and the cluster of quakes in the area are not an indication of a larger imminent volcanic event, though larger earthquakes are always a possibility.”
In fact, the clusters of quakes in the area is actually quite normal, according to the network.
“This isn’t out of the ordinary; this area has been a persistent source of bursts of small and shallow quakes over the years,” Pacific Northwest Seismic Network said in a follow-up tweet.
The quakes have clustered in an area just south of the South Fork of the Nooksack River in northern Skagit County near Mount Josephine. All 14 quakes struck approximately 25 miles east southeast of Bellingham and 6.5 miles north of Hamilton.
The latest quakes Friday, Aug. 27, were a 1.6-magnitude temblor recorded at 5:23 a.m., a 2.4-magnitude quake at 9:29 a.m. and a 2.4 magnitude quake at 4:44 p.m. Nobody reported feeling the first quake to the USGS, while two people reported feeling the second, and five reported the third. Those three quakes were approximately a mile and a half beneath the earth’s surface.
Before Friday’s quakes, the USGS reported:
▪ A 2.3-magnitude quake at 9:31 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21. The USGS received two reports of people feeling the quake.
▪ A 1.8-magnitude quake at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21. No reports of anybody feeling the quake were reported to the USGS.
▪ A 2.8-magnitude quake at 3:27 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23. The USGS received 37 reports of people feeling the quake.
▪ A 1.6-magnitude quake at 3:29 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23. No reports of anybody feeling the quake were reported to the USGS.
▪ A 1.0-magnitude quake at 3:40 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23. No reports of anybody feeling the quake were reported to the USGS.
▪ A 2.5-magnitude quake at 3:50 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23. The USGS received eight reports of people feeling the quake.
▪ A 1.2-magnitude quake at 4:21 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23. No reports of anybody feeling the quake were reported to the USGS.
▪ A 1.2-magnitude quake at 1:31 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24. No reports of anybody feeling the quake were reported to the USGS.
▪ A 2.6-magnitude quake at 8:49 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25. The USGS received 58 reports of people feeling the quake.
▪ A 2.0-magnitude quake at 11:51 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 26. No reports of anybody feeling the quake were reported to the USGS.
▪ A 1.1-magnitude quake at 12:28 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26. No reports of anybody feeling the quake were reported to the USGS.
Quakes of less than magnitude 3.0 are common, and tens of thousands are reported worldwide every year, according to the USGS. A quake of magnitude 1.0 to 3.0 is not felt except by a very few under especially favorable conditions, according to the USGS.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 2:57 PM.
