Several small earthquakes shook an area east of Mount. St. Helens late Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning. According to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, the largest quake, a magnitude 3.9, hit east of Spirit Lake near Mount Saint Helens just after 12:30 a.m. A series of smaller quakes, ranging from magnitude 1.6 to magnitude 2.7 stuck shortly after. A total of 15 quakes were reported in the area as of 4 a.m. Wednesday.
Wes Thelen, a seismologist for the Cascades Volcano Observatory said the earthquake hit about seven miles northeast of the mountain and about three miles east of Spirit Lake.Thelen said more than 100 people reported feeling the quake. Some of those reports were from as far away as Portland up to the Puget Sound near Seattle, he said. While a series of quakes are common around the mountain, the Wednesday episode stands out. READ MORE
