At the present, magma is at a mere depth of 2 miles underneath Mauna Loa. And, On October 14th, the flank of this volcano produced two moderate magnitude earthquakes, the largest of which was a magnitude 5.0. So, does this mean that Mauna Loa is about to erupt? Why did these earthquakes occur? This video will answer these two questions and give an update on the Mauna Loa volcano.

A special thanks to Two Pineapples for granting me permission to use his footage. He regularly livestreams Kilauea's eruptions via his channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4hL_YP9833K19Mh-ELfrsA (channel link). Go check him out!

Thumbnail Photo Credit: Two Pineapples, Screenshotted image from a video clip from the channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4hL_YP9833K19Mh-ELfrsA (channel link), Used with Permission

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Graphics, tables, and images which contain eruption dates, lengths, and/or VEIs are sourced from (and sometimes courtesy of) the Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution (although sometimes with minor changes made by GeologyHub). https://volcano.si.edu/
Citation: Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Volcanoes of the World, v. 4.11.2 (02 Sep 2022). Venzke, E (ed.). Smithsonian Institution. Downloaded 15 Oct 2022. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.VOTW4-2013.

Source of Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) methodology and criteria: Newhall, C. G., and Self, S. (1982), The volcanic explosivity index (VEI) an estimate of explosive magnitude for historical volcanism, J. Geophys. Res., 87( C2), 1231– 1238, doi:10.1029/JC087iC02p01231. Accessed / Read on Oct 5 2022.

Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google & Data Providers

[1] U.S. Geological Survey, About Earthquakes in Hawaii, https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/about-earthquakes-hawaii
[2] U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquakes, hv73178772, hv72000488
[3] Varugu, B., Amelung, F. Southward growth of Mauna Loa’s dike-like magma body driven by topographic stress. Sci Rep 11, 9816 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89203-6, CC BY 4.0
[4] U.S. Geological Survey, Volcano Watch - Why do some Hawaii earthquakes occur so far offshore?, https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/volcano-watch-why-do-some-hawaii-earthquakes-occur-so-far-offshore
0:00 Shallow Magma
[5] U.S. Geological Survey, Volcano Watch — Seismic event devastated Ka‘ū 150 years ago
By Hawaiian Volcano Observatory March 29, 2018, https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/volcano-watch-seismic-event-devastated-kau-150-years-ago
[6] U.S. Geological Survey, Frequently Asked Questions about Mauna Loa Volcano, https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa/frequently-asked-questions-about-mauna-loa-volcano

1:33 3 Types of Mauna Loa Earthquakes
1:39 Volcano Tectonic Earthquakes
1:58 Flexural Earthquakes
2:25 Decollement Earthquakes
2:49 Analysis
3:28 Conclusion

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CC0 1.0: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode
CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode