Mount St.Helens in the Cascade Mountains in Washington state was shaken by 120 quakes in late November. The quakes may be too small to be felt ( even someone near the epicenter may not be able to detect the quake), however, scientists warn that there will be a possibility of an eruption someday.

The mountain is recharging and according to Weston Thelen, a U.S. Geological Survey seismologist with the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, each quake is a reminder that eruption is about to come.

The earthquakes stroke between 1 and 2 miles beneath the surface and most measured at magnitudes of 0.3 or less; the largest was registered at 0.5. Despite the small quakes, scientists manage to study them due to sensitive seismometers stationed around the mountain, as reported by SeattleTimes.

The quakes were assumed from the released gasses and fluids that went up into cracks, leading to small quakes. Another expert Liz Westby from Cascades Volcano Observatory said that the mountain is repressurizing slowly.

Some wonder where the magma comes from. Scientists recently discovered that the rock inside of the volcano was quite cool and concluded that molten rock traveled in a plumbing system underground from the mountain's eastern part, as quoted by Oregonlive.

Westby added some swarm earthquakes, often called as recharge periods already happened in the past. The most notable period was between 1986 and the eruption in 2004. Then minor quakes hit after the eruption ended eight years ago, but continues again periodically.

Still, there have been no increases in ground inflation detected since the quake, according to USGS scientists.

The name of the mountain was derived from Commander George Vancouver and the officers of H.M.S. Discovery for British diplomat Alleyne Fitzherbert (1753-1839). The latter was given a title Baron St. Helens.

The major eruption occurred on May 18, 1980. The disaster killed around 57 people, caused forest fires, and USGS reported a loss incurred worth $ 1.1 billion. The St.Helens eruption in 1980 was the first eruption in the Continental America outside Alaska since 1917.