West Coast Rumblings

For those who haven't heard, seismic and volcanic activity has increased in the Northwest lately. Since I find this stuff endlessly fascinating, I've been following the news and here's what I've learned thus far.

- Seattle experienced a 4.5 magnitude earthquake on 1/30/09. It happened at 5:25am and unfortunately I was sleeping and missed it. (I've never experienced an earthquake before). I didn't tell my mother, no need to add to her list of reasons to worry - she's still worried about me getting eaten by a bear out here.

- An eruption of Alaska's Mt. Redoubt is imminent. I'm monitoring it partly out of fascination and partly because it will impact my job at Alaska Airlines. They are expecting a rather large ash plume that is guaranteed to affect our flights. I've been checking the USGS website as well as watching live webcams here: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/webcam/webcam_multi.php?cam%5B%5D=Redoubt+-+Hut&cam%5B%5D=Redoubt+-+CI&refresh=1&size=medium

- I've heard there's been steam sighted coming out of Mt. Rainier and that geo-thermal/volcanic activity has increased there but I can't find anything to support that online. Here's is the latest status on the watch levels from the USGS:

2009-02-13 08:40:55 Cascade Range Normal Green (This includes Mt. Rainier)

Redoubt Alert Level=WATCH. Aviation Color Code=ORANGE. As of Feb 17, 2009, 11:00 ADTSeismic activity remains elevated. Likelihood of an eruption remains.(Change to current status occurred on Jan 25, 2009 02:10 ADT from Alert Level ADVISORY and Aviation Color Code YELLOW )For more information see http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php

That's all the info I have for now. If you come across something interesting, shoot it my way! ang3553@yahoo.com