Magma deep inside Mount St. Helens is reportedly rising, but there is currently no risk of an eruption anytime soon.
Fresh magma started pooling 2.5 miles below the volcano's surface back in 2008. Seismologists believe the magma is a result of a "fresh batch of molten rock" forming inside the volcano pushing everything it up and away, according to UPI.com.
"This doesn't mean it's getting ready to erupt," said Seth Moran, a seismologist at Washington state's Cascades Volcano Observatory, to LiveScience. "The balloon has inflated, and it could stay inflated for decades. What we can say, is when it is ready to erupt, we will know."
Moran and his colleagues have been watching a series of small earthquakes and ground swelling associated with the re-pressurization of the volcano's magma reservoir for the past couple of years
Mount St. Helens last major eruption took place back in 1980. A small eruption took place back in 2008, according to Live Science.
Over the past couple of decades, Mount St. Helens has featured a number of smaller, gentler eruptions, causing little to no damage.
"This is probably what Mount St. Helens does," Moran said to CBS. "It may stay perched at ready stage for a long time before it starts to erupt.
Moran added that the "reassuring thing is: when it's really ready to erupt, it gives lots and lots of signs."
The 1980 eruption resulted in 57 deaths, and caused over $1 billion in property damage, according to Live Science.
A new warning system capable of giving early indication of the eruption of a volcano has been proposed by the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS believes that the new early warning system would help make sure researchers are able to monitor volcanoes at levels "commensurate to their threats," according to NewsMaine.com.
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