An earthquake swarm is underway at the world’s largest active volcano; USGS issues update

More than 700 earthquakes have struck in and around the Big Island of Hawaii in the last 30 days, with the epicenter indicated by a point on this map. The oldest earthquakes are white, orange is the newest, and yellow shows the earthquakes that struck between white and orange. The red dot indicates the location of the last earthquake. Photo: USGS

An earthquake swarm continues at the world’s most active volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, prompting the US Geological Survey to release an update on Mauna Loa there. In the past 24 hours, 63 earthquakes have struck in and around Hawaii, with most earthquakes centered in two areas: one near the summit area of ​​Mauna Loa volcano, and the other near the town of Pahala near the southeast coast of Hawaii. Island. In the past seven days there have been 322 earthquakes recorded by the USGS here; In the past 30 days, the number has risen to 739. The general trend is an increase in seismic activity in Hawaii, especially near the summit of Mauna Loa, where 38 earthquakes struck yesterday morning alone.

“Seismic activity under Mauna Loa has been gradually increasing over the past two months,” USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) scientist Ken Hoon said. Small earthquake swarms are a normal part of this increase in activity. There are currently no indications that magma is moving towards the surface and that other monitoring systems display normal behaviour. Levels of seismic activity and deformation remain lower than those recorded during the winter of 2021. HVO will continue to closely monitor this activity and report any significant changes.”

Scientists continue to assess why this latest seismic swarm was created on Mauna Loa. In a statement, the USGS said, “These earthquakes may result from changes in the magma storage system and/or may be part of normal resets of the volcano due to the changing pressures within it. HVO continues to monitor Hawaii’s volcanoes for any changes.”

According to the USGS, a swarm is a series of mostly small earthquakes with no identifiable main shock. “Swarms are usually short-lived, but they can last for days, weeks, or sometimes even months,” the USGS adds.

The swarm began around 2 a.m. Hawaii time on Friday and continues through today. The first 38 earthquakes of the swarm lie below the caldera summit region with most earthquakes in a range of about 3.1 miles wide and -1.2 to 0.6 miles below the surface.

This animated GIF of images from the F1 thermal camera at the western edge of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater inside Kilauea volcano shows changes in the crater floor from September 20-21, 2022. Increased seismic rates and ground deformation likely represent temporary obstruction in the Halemaʻumaʻu lava eruption causing subsurface pressure . The level of the lava lake dropped by 23 feet and the floor of the crater surrounding the lava lake was also lowered by several yards. Once the blockage was cleared, the lava eruption resumed with a new eruption occurring on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Photo: USGS/HVO

Mauna Loa isn’t the only volcano that’s behaving a little differently this week. On September 20, an increase in earthquakes, ground deformation, and surface lava flows occurred at the summit of Kilauea volcano between 3 PM and 6 PM that day. Beginning at 3 pm, earthquake activity under the summit began to increase, followed by summit swell that began around 4:20 pm. A new eruption of lava began on the floor of Halema’uma’u crater inside the Kilauea caldera at 4:30 p.m.

At the same time, about 50 earthquakes were detected under the summit of Kilauea, most of which were located about one mile below Halimaumau. The strongest earthquake in that swarm was an event with a magnitude of 2.9, and most of the others recorded less than 2.0.

During this activity, a lava lake fell dramatically by 23 feet while the floor of the crater surrounding the lava lake subsided by several yards.

As Kilauea is actively erupting, all of the lava flows are contained within the depth of the Kilauea Summit caldera. Tourists can drive to and tour large parts of the caldera and look at the volcano from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Unlike the incident in 2018 during the Kilauea Lower East Rift Zone eruption, volcanic activity there is limited to the summit of the volcano and does not pose an immediate threat to nearby neighborhoods at this time.

Mauna Loa rises above the Kapapala Forest Reserve on the eastern side of the Big Island of Hawaii. Today’s twin earthquakes struck just south of this location. Photo: Weatherboy

During the Kilauea eruption, Mauna Loa wasn’t – and hasn’t done so in many years. The volcano’s last eruption was in 1984.

Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on Earth, rising to 13,681 feet above sea level. Mauna Loa rises from the ocean floor in the middle of the Pacific Ocean at a depth of about 3 miles. Due to the large mass of the volcano, the ocean floor below Mauna Loa sinks by another 5 miles. According to the USGS, this places the summit of Mauna Loa at 56,000 feet above its base; The massive volcano covers half of the island of Hawaii, also known as the “Big Island of Hawaii”.

HVO scientists with the USGS continue to urge them to be vigilant and prepare for the final day Mauna Loa will erupt again. “While an eruption of Mauna Loa is not imminent, it is now time to reconsider personal eruption plans. Similar to preparing for hurricane season, having an eruption plan in advance helps during an emergency situation,” HVO said in an earlier statement.

Mauna Loa volcanic eruptions tend to produce massive, fast-moving lava flows that can affect communities on the eastern and western sides of the Big Island from Kona to Hilo. Since the 1850s, Hilo in eastern Hawaii has been threatened by 7 flows of Mauna Loa lava. On the southern and western sides of the island, Mauna Loa lava flows reached the coast there 8 times: in 1859, 1868, 1887, 1926, 1919 and three times in 1950.

This map shows the response time people can expect based on the Mauna Loa eruptions over the past 200 years. The different sectors around Mauna Loa are colored according to how quickly the lava reaches the populated areas. The warmer the color, the faster the flows will travel. Lava flows on Mauna Loa over the past 200 years are shown in grey, and numbers along the shoreline indicate times of lava moving into the ocean after the vent(s) opened. The large and bold numbers record the average effusion rates of different parts of the volcano in millions of cubic meters per day (Mm3/d). Photo: USGS

According to the USGS, while Mauna Loa is not currently erupting, deformation and seismic rates remain high above long-term background levels. GPS measurements continue to show slow, long-term inflation at the summit consistent with the magma supply to the volcano’s shallow storage system. The slight increase in the inflation rate that started in January 2021 continues.

The US Geological Survey suggests that people in Hawaii have a “travel bag” stocked with essentials now before the next Mauna Loa eruption. Photo: HIEMA

With another volcano eruption on Mauna Loa inevitable, although the timing has yet to be determined, the USGS is urging people in Hawaii to come up with a personal response plan, prepare a “go bag”, and determine what to do in the event of an eruption At different times of the day or week.

“The most important thing you can do is have a personal response plan,” the USGS says. “Document what you will do when a volcano erupts and make sure your family and friends are aware of this plan.”

The USGS suggests having a “travel bag” in order. “Nowadays, people pack ‘go’ bags with essential items in case you have to leave your home under an eviction order. You may want to include important documents, such as a birth certificate, contract, legal papers, and medications.”

Location of volcanoes on the Big Island of Hawaii. Photo: USGS

The USGS says that people in Hawaii should develop plans that take into account different types of days and time of day: If family members are at work or school at specific times, the plan should address what people should do and how they should communicate at If an eruption occurs, people are not at home. The USGS says, “It helps to also have a communication plan, so you can connect with those you care about.”

Mauna Loa is one of 5 volcanoes that make up the Big Island of Hawaii. The oldest volcano on the island of Hawaii is Kohala, which is over a million years old. Kilauea is the youngest, with an estimated age of 300,000-600,000 years. Mauna Loa is the island’s second youngest volcano, estimated to be around 700,000 years old.

A series of fissures spewed lava near the summit of Mauna Loa in 1984. A person stands in the lower left of the image. Photo: Griggs, JD/Public Domain/USGS

Mauna Loa is a shield volcano with long and wide cliffs that drop into the ocean. Lava eruptions from Mauna Loa are highly liquid and usually non-eruptive. Magma for Mauna Loa and Kilauea is obtained from a hot spot in the middle of the Pacific Plate. As the plate slowly drifts away, Mauna Loa will eventually move away from the hot spot, becoming a dormant volcano in the next 500,000-1,000,000 years.

Map showing areas covered by lava from the 1984 eruption of Mauna Loa. Photo: USGS

The most recent eruption of Mauna Loa occurred from March 24 to April 15, 1984. Lava leaked from the 1984 flow near the summit while additional fissures led to the flows in the general direction of Hilo. The flows stopped about 4 miles outside the city limits of Hilo. No lava has flowed from Mauna Loa since then.

While scientists are certain that Mauna Loa will erupt, they are not entirely sure when or where the lava from the next eruption will flow. Previous flows affected the communities of Puako and Waikoloa Beach on the northwest coast, Kailua-Kona and Captain Cook on the west coast, Milolii and Ocean View on the southwest coast, and Hilo on the east coast. Because of the wide range of impacts in past eruption events, the USGS is encouraging people at the island level to prepare for the possibility of volcanic activity. In addition to the dangers of fast-moving lava flows, there can be toxic volcanic gases and volcanic fog known as vog, as well as falling volcanic debris such as ash or volcanic glass.

Hawaii also does not have a monopoly on volcanic threats in the United States. While the USGS ranked Kilauea as the largest volcanic threat in the United States in its updated 2018 list of volcanic hazards, Mauna Loa is only 16 on the list. Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainer in Washington, the Alaskan heartland, Mount Shasta in California, Oregon’s Mount Hood and the Three Sisters are considered more dangerous.

Threat rating for American volcanoes: These are the volcanoes with an “extremely high” threat level within the United States Photo: USGS

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