Tag: 2020
Kilauea Erupts! R.I.P. Kilauea Water Lake. Viva the Lava Lake!
Madam Pele awakened rather abruptly on the night of December 20th, 2020, and decided that water lake in her crater just had to go. Volcano goddesses remodel in a spectacular fashion.
Thermal webcam images show Kilauea’s water lake boiled off by the eruption. Credit: USGS
Lakes are temporary features, geologically speaking. Some lakes are more temporary than others. When a lake makes its home in the crater of an active volcano, its life can be very short indeed. And what takes months or years to create can take only hours to destroy.
“The Earthquake Was So Strong, And It Was Very Long:” The 2020 Aegean Sea Earthquake
The geologic story of the Mediterranean is seismic. Tectonic or volcanic, earthquakes abound. A look at any seismic monitoring page for the region will show a cacophany of tremors, most never felt. But every few years, sometimes more than once a year, stressed faults fail catastrophically, and the human toll is grim.
On October 30th, 2020, the 40 kilometer Samos Fault, just offshore from the Greek island of Samos, slipped at a depth of about 21 kilometers, unleashing a devastating earthquake that has been variously measured at M6.7, M6.9, and M7.0. The intensity reached VIII on the Mercalli scale. This was the largest magnitude the fault is capable of, and many witnesses said it’s one of the longest earthquakes they’ve experienced. One said the shaking lasted 25 seconds. That becomes an eternity when you’re trying to find safety. (more…)
Earthquakes in the Time of COVID-19
Puerto Ricans are facing a multitude of tough challenges right now. 2020 has been far from kind to the island and its residents, throwing challenge after disaster after threat at them.
Puerto Rico’s earthquake sequence rumbles on. For a few weeks, it seemed things were quieting down. I’d begun to wonder if it was finally petering out, but then came July 3rd, and two substantial earthquakes that let us know that the southwestern region of the island isn’t going to see an end to the shaking any time soon. And that’s just the start of the troubles plaguing the island.
Many of us are struggling in the face of this pandemic (especially those of us living in countries whose leadership didn’t take effective measures to contain the novel coronavirus, and are now facing ever-increasing rates of infection and death). But being hit with a murderous virus while the earth is nearly constantly shaking, and you’ve lost your home just when you most need to shelter in place, is extra horrible.
Oxaca Earthquake: Another Shaky Tuesday on the Middle America Trench
I know, it seems like we were just talking about this, at least geologically speaking. (more…)