Is there a possibility that a cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Rainier could occur in the not too distant future?  On Tuesday morning, Mt. Rainier was shaken by over 400 earthquakes.  It was the largest earthquake swarm that we have seen at Mt. Rainier since 2009.  Those that have been following my work for a long time already know why this earthquake swarm immediately got my attention.  One of these days, Mt. Rainier will suddenly erupt, and a lot of people living in the vicinity of the volcano will die.  Authorities have always known about the threat that Mt. Rainier poses, but they just kept building more homes in the shadow of the volcano.  The stage is set for a tragedy of unimaginable proportions, and the clock is ticking.

Mt. Rainier had been pretty quiet for a while, but that period of relative stability was shattered very early on Tuesday morning…

A swarm of small earthquakes was detected at Mount Rainier Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN).

The activity began on July 8, 2025, at 1:29 a.m. PDT, with hundreds of earthquakes recorded at depths ranging from 1.2 to 3.7 miles below the summit. The largest earthquake so far has been a magnitude 1.7.

This is really big news.

By the time the earthquake swarm was over, the U.S. Geological Survey had recorded over 400 earthquakes…

A swarm of small earthquakes began early Tuesday morning beneath Mount Rainier, with more than 400 minor tremors recorded as of midday, according to scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington.

The activity began at 1:29 a.m. on July 8 and was detected by the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) and the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN).

I didn't think that I was going to be writing about Mt. Rainier today.

But then this happened.

According to the USGS, this was the biggest earthquake swarm that we have seen at Mt. Rainier since 2009.