Seismic activity in the Ring of Fire

HAWAII has been rocked by 52 earthquakes in a 24 hour period after an eruption of the Kilauea volcano and a 5.5 magnitude quake on Sunday.

Hawaii – 30 earthquakes in the last 4 hours

 

High Alert: Hawaii volcano - USGS reveals Kilauea eruption sparks 51 earthquakes a day

HAWAII has been rocked by 52 earthquakes in a 24 hour period after an eruption of the Kilauea volcano and a 5.5 magnitude quake on Sunday, according to the United States Geological Society (USGS).

The quakes struck the island between 11am Tuesday June 5 and 11am today.

The USGS’s latest earthquake map shows that out of the 82 earthquakes to strike the world in the last 24 hours, with a magnitude of at least 2.5, more than half have been in the island of Hawaii.

Last night in a statement, the USGS said: “Vigorous eruption of lava continues from the lower East Rift Zone fissure system in the area of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens.”

More than 115 homes have been destroyed from the molten lava flows in the four weeks since lava began flowing.

The earthquake on Sunday sent an ash plume 8,000 feet into the sky, but it did not cause a tsunami threat, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

According to Brian Shiro, supervisory geophysicist at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, there were 500 quakes in the summit area of Kilauea in 24 hours over the weekend, which is the highest rate ever measured.

Between May 4 and June 4, nearly 10,000 earthquakes have shaken the island according to the USGS, varying in strength.

The USGS said this eruption has lasted longer than the 1955 and 1924 volcanic events.

Thousands of residents in Hawaii have been evacuated since the volcanic eruption and most of the island’s National Park remains closed.

Video footage from a helicopter shows two seaside homes engulfed in flames and white steam and hydrochloric acid fumes billowing from the water.

					Refresh this list
SRC	Location	UTC Date/time	M	D	INFO
ER	I Felt A (not Listed) Earthquake	Jun 06 23:59	4.6	0	MAP I Felt It
USGS	Masachapa, Nicaragua	Jun 06 23:38	4.7	21	MAP
EMSC	Near Coast Of Nicaragua	Jun 06 23:38	4.7	22	MAP I Felt It INFO
USGS	Southern East Pacific Rise	Jun 06 23:09	5.1	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
USGS	Bristol Island, South Sandwich Islands	Jun 06 18:51	5.6	31	MAP
GEOFON	South Sandwich Islands Region	Jun 06 18:51	5.6	39	MAP I Felt It INFO
USGS	Thang, India	Jun 06 18:15	5.1	10	MAP
GEOFON	Eastern Kashmir	Jun 06 18:15	4.9	10	MAP
EMSC	Kashmir-xinjiang Border Region	Jun 06 18:15	4.9	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
USGS	Central Mid-atlantic Ridge	Jun 06 17:42	4.8	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
GEOFON	Northwest Of Madagascar	Jun 06 09:37	4.8	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
USGS	Pamandzi, Mayotte	Jun 06 09:37	4.9	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
GEOFON	Luzon, Philippines	Jun 06 09:12	4.9	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
EMSC	Southern Iran	Jun 06 07:51	4.7	15	MAP I Felt It INFO
GEOFON	Northern And Central Iran	Jun 06 07:51	4.7	10	MAP
EMSC	Biak Region, Indonesia	Jun 06 04:53	4.8	10	MAP
GEOFON	Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia	Jun 06 04:53	4.8	10	MAP I Felt It INFO
USGS	Manokwari, Indonesia	Jun 06 04:53	5.0	10	MAP
EMSC	Kermadec Islands Region	Jun 06 04:08	4.9	349	MAP
GEOFON	Kermadec Islands Region	Jun 06 04:08	4.9	353	MAP I Felt It INFO

From 3 days ago

I wonder what could POSSIBLY go wrong.

Hawaii volcano eruption: USAF could be 

called in to BOMB Mount Kilauea todivert 

lava

US Air Force heavy BOMBERS could be called into bomb Hawaii's Mount Kilauea to divert killer lava flows heading towards heavily populated communities - a throwback to a technique first successfully used in the 1940s.

Volcano bombing was first attempted in December 1935 when the US AIr Force dropped two 600lb bombs on a lava channel on Huawei’s Mount Loa to divert the flow heading towards Hilo.

The town on the Big Island is ironically to the north of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, home to the now erupting Kilauea and active Mount Loa volcanoes.

But the bombing didn’t work, so they tried the process again on the same volcano in 1942, but again without success - or so they thought.

Just a few days after this bombing, the volcano collapsed and brought the lava flow to a halt.

In theory, bombing a channel can slow the lava flow down and reduce the damage inflicted on cities because the deadly liquid moves fastest when contained in a channel or a lava tube, while lava that flows in a wider space is much slower and cools faster.

This inspired further experiments in 1975 and 1976 when the US Air Force dropped bombs on ancient lava fields on Mount Loa, concluding that spatter cones - low, steep-sided hills that consist of welded lava fragments formed around a lava fountain - were particularly vulnerable to bombing.

In its report, the US Air Force said: “Modern aerial bombing has a substantial probability of success for diversion of lava from most expected types of eruptions on Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone, if Hilo is threatened and if Air Force assistance is requested.”

Despite some success with the bombing of volcanoes to restrict lava flow, this technique has never been attempted again.

But it may be revived 42 years later if lava continues to flow dangerously from Mount Kilauea, which began erupting more than a month ago.

So far, more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed. No deaths have yet been reported but the eruptions have covered more than 5,000 acres and lava flow has now been described as a “flood”.

The United States Geographical Survey (USGS) has continued to place Kilauea volcano under red alert, meaning it is still currently spewing lava.

Its website says: “Vigorous eruption of lava continues from the lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) fissure system in the area of Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens."

Footage has also now emerged of lava flow from fissures crashing into the Pacific Ocean in Kapoho Bay.

This combines a toxic steam, known as laze - combining the words lava and haze - and contains tiny particles of volcanic gas.

The resulting steam from the lava creates a anxious mixture that is leaking into the atmosphere, with hydrochloric acid and volcanic gas posing threats to anyone nearby, acting as an irritant to skin, eyes and lungs.

Hawaii Civil Defence Administrator Talmadge Magno has advised people to stand at least 1,000 feet back from the area.