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Mount Meager not erupting

Don't panic - Mount Meager is not erupting. Photos have been circulating around Whistler recently that show steam coming out the top of the mountain that recently bore witness to the second biggest landslide in Canadian history.

Don't panic - Mount Meager is not erupting.

Photos have been circulating around Whistler recently that show steam coming out the top of the mountain that recently bore witness to the second biggest landslide in Canadian history. But experts who know the area are cautioning that there's no volcanic activity taking place.

A spokesman with the B.C. Ministry of Environment said geomorphologists have been monitoring the mountain through fly-overs and high-definition photos. They have concluded that there is no smoke or steam, but just dust caused by rock falls.

Jack Souther, a retired volcanologist who lives in Whistler, concurred. He said the "steam" is likely just a dust cloud resulting from loose, unstable material that's constantly crumbling away from the mountain.

Mount Meager, he said, is a volcano with a long history of eruptions, reaching back about 2 million years with periodic incidents ever since. The most recent one was about 2,500 years ago, an eruption that produced glowing avalanches flowing down into the Lillooet River and creating a cloud of pumice that reached as far as Alberta.

Souther said there's a continuous cloud of dust hanging over Mount Meager and nearby Mount Cayley, but it's usually due to rocks falling on both mountains.