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two types of earthquakes - volcanic and tectonic. since we are comfortable using an eating analogy.
think of yourself sitting on a chair and eating lunch. the chair is the earth. you are the volcano. the food is the lava supply. you eat lots and lots of food and your stomach starts to bulge. your button popping off your pants is a volcanic earthquake. eventually you eat so much food the chair collapses. that is a tectonic earthquake.
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Got it. Used to tectonic in Ca with the San Andreas fault. Volcanic is what I' m trying to understand in that the level has dropped, instead of maintaining, with gas levels elevated and there are numerous earthquakes. I understand the button popping idea, is it making more room, hence the drop in lava level in the crater, and the increased gas levels are from it "settling" and simmering?
Are you a human being, or a human doing?
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Hey, Bluesboy, since you seem to understand what's going on, please enlighten us all. Does it matter, or mean anything, if 100 earthquakes are happening under Kiluea in a 24 hr period- or is this just something that a "volcano normally does"? And BTW- this forum is for people to ask questions and LEARN things. I'd leave moderating up to the moderator.
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i'd have to say whatever a volcano does is probably as close to 'normal' as anything could be.
i think the enthusiasm and interest for the activity at Kilauea and Mauna Loa is great. A volcano is a complicated thing. People have spent their entire lives studying them. They are very big and erratic and difficult to study and understand. We have one of (if not) the top volcano observatories in our own backyard. They post updates every day, provide interactive maps and data plots, webcams, Volcano Watch articles and so much more. I'd advise anyone living here to take a few hours each week over the next 6 months and keep updated with the various products put out on HVO's website. You will come away from that experience with a much better understanding of where you live, and I think it would help ease your nerves.
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By the way, Bluesboy's, thanks for breaking it down for us to learn. The reports can be confusing with jargon we plain folk can't quite grasp, so look for something we can equate it to. Also if your nickname implies it, look up Delta Wires, or Gino Bambino, the blue sharp player. Now back to our original broadcast.
Are you a human being, or a human doing?
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UM yes, bluesboy- all the data I've been posting about is directly off of the HVO website! I am asking for some analysis. I've been watching it for awhile and have never seen so many earthquakes. If this is the norm, then ok. Maybe it is. Anyone else have an opinion? Thanks
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From today's daily update (
http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/activity/kilaueastatus.php)
Note: Recent seismicity in the caldera of Kilauea has been elevated over the last 6 days with several Long Period (LP) and Very Long Period (VLP) earthquakes. Locating earthquakes of this type is particularly difficult, and thus our earthquake maps show a spread in locations around the caldera that does not reflect the location of the actual sources. Based on detailed studies of this type of event, we expect that most of these earthquakes are associated with the shallow conduit under Halema`uma`u. The occurrence of earthquakes of this type and number are often associated with high lava-lake levels and likely reflect high pressures in the summit caldera. The deformation data suggest a deflation source within the caldera that is slightly north from the usual DI tilt event source which may be an actual location or the result of combined processes around that location; however, the nature of the process is still uncertain.
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Wow USGS could report the weather also.
To save yourself some time reading that last post and future posts refer to the last clause of the last sentence:
"however, the nature of the process is still uncertain."
Oh I forgot to translate: "however, the nature of the process is still uncertain" = "we haven't the slightest clue"
(But we'll phrase it differently as to keep receiving your tax dollars for our generous salaries)
Had a pretty good shaker on the Kona side with in the last hour 3.3 around captain cook, Mauna loa again.
