Did you feel that?

[Frankie Stapleton]

This "explosion" took place Tuesday morning.

[PaulW]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22...73767.html

Geophysicist Paul Caruso told The Associated Press that loud booming noises have been known to accompany earthquakes. It's possible the mysterious sounds that town officials have been investigating are linked to the quake, he said.

[pbmaise]

Has there been any resolution on this boom?

I have my own theory.

The event seems centered around the steam vents.

Further hearing, windows rattling, followed by movement of curtains with enough time between to differentiate the three indicates a sound wave followed by one or more pressure waves.

How can I put this politely, ... no way, so let's just say Pele might have been a bit bloated.

I suspect one of the least know features of Kilauea may have played a role.

How many have seen the giant sink hole?

Well besides the lost tourist that stepped into it.

At the bottom of the sink hole in the north east corner there is a cave, which may or may not be an old lava tube.

Water drains down into this cave and being located right near the steam vents it is safe to say that water is converted to steam.

If this tube became blocked, ahem,.. pressure would build in the cave and a rather large volume of steam would be trapped.

No earthquake is required to release the steam. The steam pressure itself would free the block.


Event 1 Is the sound of the sudden release of steam?
Event 2 Is the vibration of the glass caused by the sound wave?
Event 3 Is the pressure wave from the rapid expansion of steam and heating and expansion of air.

It doesn't take a super large pressure to do this. Just a large enough volume of trapped steam.

Owing to the size of the sink hole, and low pressure of the steam earthen vibrations may have been too low for seismic instrument.

Note: The sink hole is on private property.