The Big Island of Hawaii does not currently have any active volcanoes, but an early morning earthquake that occurred between the recently silent Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes jolted some people out of bed. A magnitude 4.0 earthquake that occurred this morning struck at 3:31 AM on January 3.

The epicenter specifically occurred 12 miles below sea level, 4 miles due northwest of the town of Volcano, Hawaii.

Stress Interaction

The earthquake, according to the USGS, did not appear to have any effects on either of the volcanoes despite occurring in a region where the Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes were interacting under stress.

The USGS PAGER system puts the earthquake at alert level "green," which means the seismic activity was moderate and felt by almost all residents in the area.

In collaboration with the USGS, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is still keeping an eye out for any changes in the state's volcanoes.

Kilauea Volcano

From 1983 to 2018, Pu'u'ō'ō and other vents along the Kilauea volcano's East Rift Zone almost continuously erupted. Kilauea is the youngest and also the most active volcano on the island of Hawaii.

A lava lake existed in the Halema'uma'u crater at the volcano's summit from 2008 to 2018. In 2018, The summit of Kilauea collapsed and experienced the largest lower East Rift Zone eruption in at least 200 years.

The very active volcano's ongoing eruption, which was contained within Halema'uma'u crater, lasted from September 29, 2021, to December of the previous year. The volcano is covered in lava flows that are less than 1,100 years old, making up about 90% of its surface.

Read also: Mysterious Wingless Cricket Lives in Lava in Hawaii's Active Volcanoes 

Mauna Loa Volcano

As the highest active volcano on Earth, Mauna Loa rises 13,681 feet above sea level. At a depth of roughly 3 miles, Mauna Loa emerges from the Central Pacific's ocean floor. The ocean floor right beneath Mauna Loa is depressed by an additional 5 miles due to the volcano's size and mass.

This places the summit of Mauna Loa, also referred to as the "Big Island of Hawaii," about 56,000 feet above its base, according to the USGS. The enormous volcano occupies half of Hawaii.

Large, rapidly moving lava flows that result from Mauna Loa eruptions may have an impact on communities located on the west and east sides of the Big Island.

Since the 1850s, seven lava flows from Mauna Loa have threatened the eastern Hawaii town Hilo. Mauna Loa lava flows have 8 times reached the coast on the south and west sides of the island between 1859 to 1950, although three happened in 1950 alone.

According to the National Park Service, the lava flows from the Mauna Loa eruption in 2022 mostly moved north and stopped at Daniel K. Inouye State Highway 200.

Mauna Loa's Recent Eruption

On December 13, HVO's scientist-in-charge, Dr. Ken Hon, informed the media that Mauna Loa is no longer erupting. On December 10, the lava supply to the Northeast Rift Zone active fissure, which was occasionally fountaining lava up to 500 feet high, was cut off, and sulfur dioxide emissions have since dropped to levels similar to those before the eruption.

Kilauea also went silent as Mauna Loa did. Based on the lava lake levels and crater floor behavior, the Halema'uma'u lava lake's lava supply stopped on December 9. According to HVO, sulfur dioxide emissions are now close to background levels before the eruption, Weatherboy reports.

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