Earthquakes linked to volcanic activity
The Cleveland Volcano producing a plumb of ash on May 23, 2006. It's one of the most active volacanos in Alaska's Aleutian Islands (NASA)
Scientists have found good evidence that strong earthquakes can cause a nearly immediate increase in the activity of volcanoes nearby.
Andrew Harris at the University of Hawaii monitors volcanic hot spots around the globe. With the aid of satellites, he was watching the volcano Merapi as it erupted on the Indonesian island of Java in May 2006. During that time, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Java … and the eruption rate of Merapi increased. Then Harris noticed a nearby volcano increasing its activity at the same rate.
Andrew Harris: And the only thing the two volcanos seemed to have in common was that they would have both felt that earthquake.
Scientists have long suspected that earthquakes do cause volcanoes to respond. Harris’ work provides strong evidence of this link. More evidence came in 2005, when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean. That earthquake later was found to have caused a series of minor earthquakes underneath a volcano in Alaska. Harris says the question now is why some earthquakes affect volcanoes, while others don’t.
Andrew Harris: If we can understand that, we can understand a bit more about how the volcano erupts, why it erupts, what forces it to change.
Our thanks today to NASA : explore, discover, understand.
NASA Data Show Earthquakes May Quickly Boost Regional Volcanoes
Our thanks to:
Andrew Harris
Researcher
Hawaii Institute of Geophysics & Planetology
Honolulu, Hawaii
I am not a scientist though I am interested in science. For a long time I have been following earth “changes” or “happenings” and it seems to me that when an earthquake or eruption of a volcano occurs, very often some other “change” or “happening” occurs on the opposite mantle edge of that techtonic plate. I have been paying close attention to the Pacific Rim.—I believe this thought of mine to be related to the information in the article.
I enjoyed the news about earthquake activity linked to volcanic activity. I have always been interested in volcano activity and tectonic plate activity. When visiting the Greek island of Santorini (Thera)there was an amazing archeological excavation of an entire city, buried under 30 feet of ash, that showed the maritime culture that lived there. Some consider this to be the Lost City of Atlantis, and the inhabitants were, judging by the wall murals found there, (on view in the museum in Athens at the time) a wealthy culture of olive oil and spice producers who traded throughout Greece and North Africa (the famous mural of the blue monkeys)who apparently evacuated the city before one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history. No people were found within the city, yet all their belongings: huge oil vases, coins, jewelry, etc. were found. It is believed the people were warned by the earthquake activity and fled in their small ships before the volcano blew up. They may have been overwhelmed by a tidal wave, as no evidence of their mass arrival was ever recorded in any country. The ash from the volcanic blast in 400 B.C. (?) went into the stratasphere, masking the sun, and cooling earth’s climate significantly, as shown in tree rings from that period. The volcanic blast blew out approximately 100 square miles of island, leaving a cresant of land where the original volcano is re-emerging. One can visit the volcanic island and view the volcano.
That sounds fascinating!
The findings of the study make sense and are very interesting. I am deeply concerned about the situation in Mexico City should the Popocatepetl volcanoe erupt. Millions of people live just 40 miles away in the Mexican capital. However, using earthquakes as a warning signs might not be useful for the residents of this city with such high sismic activity, because they have grown acustomed to the ground shaking. Note that neither of the two volcanoes located only 40 miles away, the Popocatepetl or Iztaccihuatl, awake from their sleep during the great earthquake in 1985 which caused great destruction in and around the downtown area and in which tens of thousands perished. Maybe thi situation was one of the exceptions mentioned in the article. The Popocatepetl volcanoe has recently become active and I just hope there are more obvious warning sings should it erupt.
With even the most basic understanding of earth’s structure and plate tectonics, it would make sense that both earthquakes and volcanic activity are linked, not necessarily as cause and effect but as two different symptoms of changes in magma flows and temperatures in a given location. Whether the earthquake causes the volcanic activity or the volcanic activity causes the earthquake is not really the issue. Both appear to be, at least in some cases, related to either changing tectonic or magma conditions that we can only guess at.
Very true …