Fears of an eruption at Mount Rainier in Washington state were overblown, local seismologists said.
Supposed seismic tremor signals were in fact radio interference.
The University of Washington’s Pacific Northwest Seismic Network said Wednesday that the radio interference was likely caused by stormy weather and ice building up on an antenna at an old analog station on the 14,411-foot Mount Rainier.
British tabloid The Daily Mail, among other publications, had reported Tuesday that Mount Rainier was in a “72-hour tremor phase” and that millions living near the mountain were at risk from a possible eruption.
The Daily Mail article said the seismogram readings did not mean that “Mount Rainier is going to erupt at any moment, but it is a warning sign that volcanic activity could eventually build towards a critical level.”
The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network’s Doug Gibbons told KOMO-TV that the Daily Mail headline was “an unfortunate misinterpretation of the seismogram.”
The older station on Mount Rainier is susceptible to weather problems due to its use of low-power radio transmission of data, the seismologists said. Any actual unusual seismic activity would be picked up not only by the older station but by newer stations using different data transmission systems.
The station in question is due for an upgrade to newer technology in 2026 or 2027, according to KIRO-TV.
“Unfortunately, sloppy journalism by non-scientists who don’t understand seismology nor check with those that do can generate confusion in the public,” the scientists said, though they did not mention the Daily Mail or any other publications directly.
