ISU researchers visited, studied Hawaiian volcano weeks before eruption
A research trip turned more exciting for a group of ISU geoscience researchers and students. They were visiting Hawaii and the now erupting volcano just three weeks ago, learning about the volcanic activity in the area. While the eruption is dangerous, it is expected for the region.
“This style of volcanic eruption is relatively common for Hawaii,” said Dr. Shannon Kobs-Nawotniak, an ISU associate professor of geoscience. “We’ve got a lot of extension that’s going on out there, we’ve got that magma chamber that sort of stretches out that stuff, the crust on top, we’ll get these long cracks. And this is part of an extended system that we would expect the eruptions to be able to come up in Hawaii.”
They say they knew it could erupt soon while they were there based on seismicity, the tilt, and inflation being measured by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The eruption allows for further studying of the volcano.
“We’re, from a scientific perspective, incredibly excited by the opportunities to be able to see this and to learn,” Dr. Kobs-Nawotniak said. “And the more that we can learn about volcanoes to keep people safe.”
The eruption prompted mandatory evacuations and caused major earthquakes, including a magnitude 6.7 this afternoon; however, researchers say there is not much danger to people.
“They’re a fairly predictable, slow-moving event, the lava flow itself,” said Stuart Parker, an ISU graduate student who went on the trip. “So, loss of human life isn’t really a big concern, but mainly just the houses and the property in the way.”
Some people question if something like this could happen in Idaho. Researchers say it is not likely due to the recurrence interval in Idaho being much longer than in Hawaii.
“It’s similar in Idaho where we have extension and we have volcanism, the Snake River Plane and places like Craters of the Moon,” Parker said. “But it happens over a very, very long time scale of thousands of years and tens to hundreds of thousands of years. So it’s really not likely to be a problem.”
The ISU researchers also say it doesn’t look like the volcano will be shutting off any time soon.
