Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Earthquakes and Volcanoes
(OP)
I pose a question - sort of a survey per se - to all Engineers and Geologists participating in this forum:
Is the activity of Earthquakes and Volcanoes related or not?
I am speaking not only on a local, but a global perspective here.
Is the activity of Earthquakes and Volcanoes related or not?
I am speaking not only on a local, but a global perspective here.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering






RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ring_of_Fire
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Search for the Sumatra Earthquake for more info on plate tectonics.
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
See the following which seems to confirm that the Sumatra Quake caused a volcanic eruption:
Some scientists confirm that the December (Sumatra) earthquake had activated Leuser Mountain, a volcano in Aceh province along the same range of peaks as Mount Talang, while the 2005 Sumatran earthquake had sparked activity in Lake Toba, an ancient crater in Sumatra. Geologists say that the eruption of Mount Talang in April 2005 is connected to the December earthquake.
http://
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
, but not all earthquakes originates from the plate boundaries. There are major/large earthqaukes that occur from fault lines which can be miles away from the location of volcanoes.
Large faults within the Earth's crust are the result of differential or shear motion and active fault zones are the causal locations of most earthquakes. Earthquakes are caused by energy release during rapid slippage along a fault. Fault lines may be located at the plate boundaries or inside the plates. http:
Volcanic activities may or may not affect the disturbance on the movement of plates. But volcanic activities is not the only mechanism that can disturb the plates movements.
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Earthquakes away from plate boundaries
Where plate boundaries occur within continental lithosphere, deformation is spread out a over a much larger area than the plate boundary itself. In the case of the San Andreas fault continental transform, many earthquakes occur away from the plate boundary and are related to strains developed within the broader zone of deformation caused by major irregularities in the fault trace (e.g. the "Big bend" region). The Northridge earthquake was associated with movement on a blind thrust within such a zone. Another example is the strongly oblique convergent plate boundary between the Arabian and Eurasian plates where it runs through the northwestern part of the Zagros mountains. The deformation associated with this plate boundary is partitioned into nearly pure thrust sense movements perpendicular to the boundary over a wide zone to the southwest and nearly pure strike-slip motion along the Main Recent Fault close to the actual plate boundary itself. This is demonstrated by earthquake focal mechanisms. [2]
All tectonic plates have internal stress fields caused by their interactions with neighbouring plates and sedimentary loading or unloading (e.g. deglaciation). These stresses may be sufficient to cause failure along existing fault planes, giving rise to intraplate earthquakes.[3]
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
I have long felt that everything boils down to energy, and the dissipation of energy seeking a position of equilibrium - steady state if you will. Considering the core of the earth as a source of that energy, along with the energy input of the Sun and Moon, I see it all as one large reservoir. It is beyond me how one could not affect the other in some way. Just because we do not know how to detect or measure it does not mean it is not there.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Seems we studied in the same grade school, or at least, the same book.
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
We cant just assume that every time there's a major earthquake there's going to be a volcanic eruptions, although there's an earthquake on every eruptions, we called it volcanic earthquakes.
I really cant explain everything here on the post but my advise is to google the subject. This is a very interesting subject that everyone should know specially us engineers. As engineers its important for us to understand the behavior of earthquakes to properly mitigate/design our structures.
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Already done that, see the PDF I attached earlier on - grade school teaching material.
Don't mean any disrespect, it is the fact how our school kids have be taught. lifeless plate won't move itself.
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraplate_earthquake
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
What causing the stress change? How long ago the bomb (that powerful enough to induce a stress change required to generate an earthquake) was invented. How long a history was earthquake events? This isn't a good argument (may have some link though - for morden age earthquake).
Your theory is sound, but it only explains a small part of earth activities. To my (street level) understanding, internal stress change is caused by pressure change from external source, a source contains energy, What is the enery force behind the dumb plates? Put a rock in your pocket, check it every day, does it grow? Or does it pushes your leg (drag, yes!)? If it does, you might have found new energy source9s).
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
The questions seems to generalized that seismic activities affects volcanic activities. I agree that sometimes it does, but not in general. Or vice versa.
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
http://
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
We've had a lot of smaller ones not worth mentioning, but these are the largest.
Were I am, they're related.
No, I have not been here since 1872.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
I'm glad you clarified that. But if you had been around since 1872, it might explain a few things.
(I should include one of those smiley things, but forget how).
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
The highlighted words cited from your response answered the question posted by Mike - both events are interrelated, but not necessarily the sole cause for each to occur.
"if that's the case, why did the geologists differentiate volcanic earthquakes with tectonic earthquakes?"
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
h
excerpt from the article....
David Booth, a researcher seismologist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, agrees:
"My understanding is that volcanoes cause earthquakes, not the other way round. Volcanic activity causes stresses in the Earth crust and an active movement of fluid that creates pressure."
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Good definition of earthquake
RE: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
The movement in tectonic plates is due, in part, to the circulation of the fluid below - lava - causing friction on the underside of the plates, causing continental drift or movement, subduction, shear, etc. The earth's magnetic field plays a very large part in the circulation pattern of this lava.
Both types of earthquakes then are related by the circulation of the lava and energy dissipation. As pointed out with the series of local earthquakes here, the major quakes listed were not part of the series of earthquake swarms, but a geologic earthquake event gap in time did occur when Mt. St Helens erupted.
It would be interesting to compare this region with what's going on off the northern coast of Australia through Indonesia to see if a similar pattern exists. One, too, could look at the eruptions of Mt. Redoubt in Alaska to see if a similar pattern exists. I do not know about these areas, but they seem like good candidates for study.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering