A big earthquake at the world’s largest active volcano yesterday rattled many nerves, especially in light of a swarm of seismic activity that has produced more than 2,000 measurable earthquakes in the last few weeks. But USGS says this big earthquake isn’t a sign of an eruption, but is more a symptom of it’s large mass. The weight of the enormous volcano is immense and USGS scientists say its weight was ultimately responsible for yesterday’s big earthquake on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Mauna Loa is considered the largest active volcano on Earth, rising to 13,681 feet above sea level. Mauna Loa rises up from the ocean floor of the Central Pacific at a depth of about 3 miles. Because of the volcano’s significant mass, the ocean floor directly beneath Mauna Loa is depressed by another 5 miles. According to USGS, this places Mauna Loa’s summit about 56,000 feet above its base; the enormous volcano covers half of the island of Hawaii, also known simply as the “Big Island of Hawaii.”
Yesterday, Friday, February 9, at 10:06 am local time, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurred 1.25 miles southwest of Pāhala on the Island of Hawaii at a depth of 23 miles below sea level. In a statement released by USGS’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), they said, “The earthquake had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kilauea volcanoes. Numerous aftershocks have been felt and are expected to continue.”