# For volcano watchers - maybe you'll get lucky! {Kilauea may be erupting} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665 "2023-09-05T20:52:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/41 "2023-09-14T11:07:40Z")
Looks as active as ever now, 1AM Hawaii time. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/42 "2023-09-18T14:05:41Z")
As you’ve all probably noticed, the eruption stopped on Sat 9/16. Here’s the official post-game summary: > **[Recent Eruption | U.S. Geological Survey](https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/recent-eruption)** > > Kīlauea was erupting at the summit most recently from September 10-16, 2023. Several roughly east-west oriented vents on the western side of the downdropped block within Kīlauea's summit caldera generated lava flows onto Halema‘uma‘u crater floor,... ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/43 "2023-09-18T18:25:14Z")
They’ve cut back to the crater, but I don’t see any earthquakes there in the last couple of days. I am seeing a lot of seismic activity to the south and west, by the sea. I wonder if a new tube is opening up. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/44 "2023-09-18T20:28:14Z")
It’s easy enough to keep track of when an eruption is imminent - I regularly monitor [the USGS update page.](https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/volcano-updates) They go to a daily update whenever things start to get interesting, and drop to a once-a-week report when things are quiet. That’s how I knew this eruption was coming. It’s impossible to say with certainty what happens next - I’ll continue to monitor and when/if things heat up again, literally and figuratively, I’ll go back to staring at the webcams. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/45 "2023-09-18T20:45:11Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > when/if things heat up again, literally and figuratively, I’ll go back to staring at the webcams. As long as you tell us when to start staring at them too. Please!!!11! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/46 "2023-09-18T21:23:31Z")
Gladly! ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/47 "2023-10-05T19:56:34Z")
_Something_ is going on. I count about 45 shallow (0-2 miles) earthquakes on the slope just south of Kilauea’s crater in the last 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/48 "2023-10-05T20:26:01Z")
You’re right, USGS is noting some new activity and has returned to daily updates (they were only doing weekly updates while nothing much was happening). Hopefully a little more entertainment is in store. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/49 "2023-10-05T20:45:37Z")
Unfortunately, I do not see any USGS cameras in the area. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/50 "2023-10-05T20:53:32Z")
I check it almost every day. When it’s doing anything at all it’s much cooler looking at night. Sometimes it’s not on, other times it looks like rain or snow is on the lens. Birds can be seen flying over the crater too. It’s gonna blow someday. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/51 "2023-10-05T20:59:13Z")
Another five in the last two hours all magnitude 1.7 or greater. The deepest is at 2.9 miles. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/52 "2023-10-05T21:20:58Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s gonna blow someday. Kilauea isn’t really a “gonna blow” kind of volcano. Yes, it can erupt and erupt lots and erupt long. And inexorably drip lava all down the side of the cone and all over towns and forests and everything. And perhaps snarl air travel to/from the island for days and maybe weeks. But if you’re imagining an island-shattering Kablooey, not gonna happen. The lava is the wrong chemistry for Kablooey-ing. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/53 "2023-10-05T22:40:15Z")
Hawaiian magma/ lava has a very low silica content, meaning it’s runny and will not hold much gas. The result is an eruption with lots of cool lava fountains and rivers, not explosions and pyroclasttic flows. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/54 "2023-10-06T04:11:37Z")
So why does high silica magma cause big kablooeies? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/55 "2023-10-06T05:02:37Z")
As I understand it, it’s more viscous. Gooey, bordering on chunky. It can’t release gases readily, so pressure builds up behind it. Imagine a squeeze bottle of ketchup with partially dried, goopy ketchup built up around the nozzle. When you squeeze it, and nothing comes out, you squeeze harder–then what happens? Now scale that up to a ketchup bottle the size of a mountain. If the nozzle is plugged up with enough goopy ketchup, the sides of the bottle will pop before the spicy tomato purée can escape. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/56 "2023-10-06T05:28:07Z")
A volcano blowing it’s top doesn’t have to be another Krakatoa or Mt. St. Helen. Lots of steam, smoke, and lava are good enough. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/57 "2023-10-06T13:14:48Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > So why does high silica magma cause big kablooeies? @Balance isn’t wrong, but it’s more like a Mentos Pepsi fountain effect. The gooier high silica magma can hold a lot of gas under great pressure. Once the volcano’s “lid” finally can’t hold the pressure versus a magma upwelling, the lid fails, some magma gets out, the pressure drops, the rest of the magma rapidly expands to a much larger volume and it all wants to come out right now. Which tears the existing cone open somehow and you get a Mt. St. Helens or Krakatoa event. The intro paragraphs here are a good start into the details > **[Types of volcanic eruptions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_volcanic_eruptions)** > > Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs, and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has been observed. Some volcanoes may exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption during a period of activity, while others may display an entire sequence of types all in one eruptive series. > There... ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/58 "2023-10-06T14:29:40Z")
Whoa - ten in the last two hours, all between magnitude 1.8 and 2.1. One is right near the crater. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/59 "2023-10-06T15:21:21Z")
Fuzzy image for the last 10 hours. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/60 "2023-10-06T21:50:46Z")
Normal camera focus and behavior now. But I think it’s a different camera with a different look angle at a different part of the caldera that we’ve had for the last couple of months. Definitely a different view than the cam that had a ringside seat for the September eruption. Still seeing nothing exciting beyond a bit of steam from spots on the crater floor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665.md?page=4)