The Kilauea volcano, positioned on Hawaii’s Big Island, has recently made headlines due to its eruption which was succeeded by an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.4. As one of the world’s most active volcanoes, this occurrence is of significant scientific and public interest.
Kilauea Volcano: A Brief Overview
Known also as Mount Kilauea, which translates to “Much Spreading” in Hawaiian, this volcano is located within the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the southeastern part of Hawaii island, U.S.A. The slopes of Kilauea seamlessly merge with those of the neighboring volcano, Mauna Loa, to its west and north.
Kilauea is a uniquely elongated dome formed from lava eruptions that originated from a central crater and lines of craters extending along east and southwest rifts or fissures. The summit of the volcano, which stands at 4,090-foot (1,250-metre), has collapsed to form a caldera – a broad, shallow depression nearly 3 miles (5 km) long and 2 miles (3.2 km) wide. These calderas, characterized by their more than 4 square miles (10 square km) area, are essentially depressions created when a volcano partially collapses after an explosive eruption that empties the majority of its magma chamber.
Historical Eruptions
Historical records reveal that the Kilauea caldera was a site of almost continuous activity throughout the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. Since 1952, Kīlauea has erupted a total of 34 times with activity from 1983 to 2018 being particularly consistent along the volcano’s East Rift Zone.
Indian Volcanoes
India also hosts its own array of volcanoes, including the country’s only active volcano – Barren Island, situated within the Andaman Islands. Other Indian volcanoes include Narcondam and Baratang, both also located in the Andaman Islands, Deccan Traps in Maharashtra, Dhinodhar Hills in Gujarat, and Dhosi Hill in Haryana.
Understanding Volcanoes
In simple terms, a volcano is an opening on Earth’s surface that allows for warmer material to escape from its interior, causing an eruption. These eruptions can vary in intensity, ranging from explosive ones that send material high into the sky to calmer ones resulting in gentle flows of material.
This erupted material – which could be liquid rock (labeled as “lava” when on the surface and “magma” when underground), ash, cinders, or gas – is essentially facilitated by magma rising towards the Earth’s surface for three primary reasons: tectonic plates moving away from each other, leading to the formation of underwater volcanoes; tectonic plates moving toward each other, causing part of the Earth’s crust to melt and rise as magma; and hot spots within the Earth heating up the magma until it becomes less dense and rises. While the reasons behind magma rising differ, all can result in volcanic formations.
