STUDY OF ERUPTIONS AND EARTHQUAKES ORIGINATING FROM VOLCANOES (PART 1 OF 3)

Reports of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes originating from volcanoes indicate that seismic activity preceding the eruption is related not only to eruption magnitude and structure of the volcano, but also to viscosity of the lava at the time of eruption. This follows, since lava of higher viscosity meets greater resistance as it ascends from the magma chamber to the earth's surface and, consequently, greater stress will be produced within and beneath the volcano. The writer gives a condensed statistical breakdown of earthquakes and explosive eruptions of Asama Volcano. The Asama earthquakes treated in the report are mainly those of rather low magnitude (T = 1. 0 sec, V = 350) at the Asama Volcano Observatory, situated 4. 2 km east of the center of the summit crater. This investigation showed that most of the explosive eruptions were preceded by an increase in micro-earthquakes. In addition, an experimental formula for predicting volcanic eruptions, based on the statistical relation between frequency of earthquakes originating from Asama and its explosive eruptions. The forthcoming report (Part II) will discuss the same problem based on seismic observations by more sensitive instruments set nearer the summit crater. — A. Eustus