University’s scientists have determined that under the shield volcano Mauna-Loa in Hawaii there is an accumulation of magma, which can cause an earthquake and catastrophic eruption. Researchers presented their findings in the article published in the Nature magazine. Briefly about the fears of volcanologists is told in a press release on phys.org.
Experts analyzed the surface movement, measured by satellite geodesic radars and GPS stations. During 2014-2020, about 0.11 cubic kilometers of magma penetrated the dico-shaped body, located south of the caldera at a depth of 2.5-3 kilometers. Daiko-shaped bodies call large formations that have arisen when the magma is frozen in the cracks of the earth’s crust. In 2015, the accumulation of magma began to expand to the south, where rock pressure is less, but in 2017 the deformation center returned to the previous position. According to scientists, such changes in the magmatic body under Mauna Loa were not previously observed.
Researchers also recorded the surface shift under the east flank of the volcano along the horizontal fault, and there was no detection under the western flank. This indicates the likelihood of an earthquake with an epicenter under the western flank and the subsequent eruption of the volcano, if the influx of magma does not stop. Scientists predict that in this case the earthquake will create additional pressure contributing to the destruction of rocks over magma.
Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on Earth. During his eruptions, very fast lava flows are poured, which give very little time to evacuate people. The eruse of 1950, when Lava reached the coast for only three hours, was preceded by an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 three days before that, and the 1984 erasement is an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 five months before.