HVO earthquake plot for 15July2016
HVO earthquake plot for 15July2016, note the two clusters to the west of the summit caldera
HVO Earthquakes 15July2016
When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
HVO earthquake plot for 15July2016
HVO earthquake plot for 15July2016, note the two clusters to the west of the summit caldera
Andrew,
I, also, have been following Mauna Loa closely. I have found the crew at the HVO to be very responsive to email queries in the past & so I asked if the recent clusters of earthquakes were “significant”. I did this in light of the fact that during the HVO’s volcano month outreach meetings they were quite careful to differentiate between the recent earthquake clusters responsible for the raising of the alert level, and the swarms which have preceeded past eruptions. I received this response on 7/11 (just prior to the most recent cluster on the NW flank):
“Yes, earthquakes have been occurring in the same two areas south and west of Moku`aweoweo for the past few years. The reason that we raised the alert level for Mauna Loa last year was this seismicity pattern and the slow inflation of the summit area. We are watching both closely.
The 2-week earthquake map to which you refer also includes a swarm of earthquakes that occurred over the July 4th weekend. While the seismicity is impressive, it is well below the rates observed prior to the 1975 and 1984 eruptions.
The occurrence of this earthquake swarm is certainly significant but it doesn’t indicate that we are any closer to an eruption. It does reaffirm that Mauna Loa is an active volcano and is in a state of elevated unrest (Alert Level ADVISORY rather than NORMAL).”
We can be grateful to have such a responsive and understanding group of professionals at the Hawai’i Volcano Observatory.
Kevin Zimmermann
Thanks! Good info there. The official line is much the same as the tone I tried to portray in the post. Things are happening but no need to panic, elevated awareness of the activity is warranted.