Swarm of small quakes rumble beneath Mount Hood

There’s been some minor seismic activity at Mount Hood, with more than two-dozen small earthquakes since Monday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, KGW reported Tuesday.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, more than 30 earthquakes have been recorded beneath Oregon’s tallest mountain, the USGS said. The quakes, at a maximum magnitude of 2.1, have all been within one mile east-northeast of Government Camp and about five miles south of the summit. They’ve been relatively shallow, at about two to three miles in depth, the station reported.

An earthquake swarm around Mount Hood isn’t unprecedented, according to the USGS. One most recently occurred in 2014. The largest earthquake ever recorded near Mount Hood was a magnitude 4.5 on June 29, 2002.

The USGS said it does not believe the earthquakes signify something more is happening at Mount Hood.

“Based on similarity to past seismic sequences near Mount Hood and on past studies of seismicity in the Mount Hood area, we infer that these earthquakes are occurring on tectonic faults and are not directly related to volcanic processes occurring beneath Mount Hood,” the agency said.

On July 3, the USGS said more than 70 earthquakes had occurred beneath Mount St. Helens over the past month.