Premium
Moderate‐magnitude earthquakes induced by magma reservoir inflation at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i
Author(s) -
Wauthier Christelle,
Roman Diana C.,
Poland Michael P.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2013gl058082
Subject(s) - geology , caldera , volcano , seismology , rift zone , magma , magnitude (astronomy) , dike , magma chamber , tectonics , rift , petrology , physics , astronomy
Although volcano‐tectonic (VT) earthquakes often occur in response to magma intrusion, it is rare for them to have magnitudes larger than ~ M 4. On 24 May 2007, two shallow M 4+ earthquakes occurred beneath the upper part of the east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i. An integrated analysis of geodetic, seismic, and field data, together with Coulomb stress modeling, demonstrates that the earthquakes occurred due to strike‐slip motion on pre‐existing faults that bound Kīlauea Caldera to the southeast and that the pressurization of Kīlauea's summit magma system may have been sufficient to promote faulting. For the first time, we infer a plausible origin to generate rare moderate‐magnitude VTs at Kīlauea by reactivation of suitably oriented pre‐existing caldera‐bounding faults. Rare moderate‐ to large‐magnitude VTs at Kīlauea and other volcanoes can therefore result from reactivation of existing fault planes due to stresses induced by magmatic processes.