Washington's largest active volcano Mount Adams has record-breaking earthquakes spike

Mount Adams, which is the largest active volcano in Washington, has had a record-breaking spike in the amount of earthquakes that have been happening in the area.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has revealed six occurred in September alone - there's usually just one every two-to-three years, reports IFL Science.

The six registered had magnitudes between 0.9 and 2.0 which were picked up by a seismic station around 11 kilometres away from its summit.

The location and depth of the earthquakes are not exactly known.

A statement from USGS said: "This represents the most earthquakes located at Mount Adams in a month since monitoring began in 1982."

Mount Adams in Washington has had a record-breaking spike in earthquakes / Lisa Ayers, iStock

The USGS adds there isn't anything to worry about despite Mount Adams being ranked as a 'high-threat' volcano.

That's because it's a quiet one, with it not having erupted in at least the last 3,800 years, and none of the earthquakes have been strong enough to be felt on the surface nor indicate an eruption is imminent.

Jon Major, the scientist in charge at USGS in Vancouver, told Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB): "We don't have a dedicated gas sensing station there but there's no indication right now that the volcano seems to be degassing in any way.

"Mount Adams has decided to perk up a little bit and talk to us a little bit more. Exactly why it's talking to us, we don’t know for sure."

The Cascades Volcano Observatory has got permission from the US Forest Service to place temporary seismic stations in the area to better understand what's going on.

It's hoped to help improve the ability to understand these smaller earthquakes.

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