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Abstract Abundant seismicity beneath the Island of Hawai‘i from mantle depths to the surface plays a central role in understanding how volcanoes work, grow, and evolve at this intraplate oceanic hotspot. We perform systematic waveform cross‐correlation, cluster analysis, and relative relocation of 347,445 events representing 32 years of seismicity on and around the island from 1986 to 2018. We successfully relocate 275,009 (79%) events using ∼1.7 billion differential times (PandS) from ∼128 million similar‐event pairs. The results reveal a dramatic sharpening of seismicity along faults, streaks, rings, rift zones, magma pathways, and mantle fault zones; seismicity delineating crustal detachments on the flanks of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa is particularly well‐resolved. The resulting high‐precision spatio‐temporal image of seismicity captures almost the entire 1983–2018 Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō‐Kūpaianaha eruption of Kīlauea with its numerous distinct episodes and wide‐ranging activity, culminating in the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse.
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This content will become publicly available on September 11, 2025
Rift Zone Architecture and Inflation‐Driven Seismicity of Mauna Loa Volcano
Abstract The 2022 eruption at Mauna Loa, Hawai'i, marked the first extrusive activity from the volcano after 38 years of quiescence. The eruption was preceded by several years of seismic unrest in the vicinity of the volcano's summit. Characterizing the structure and dynamics of seismogenic features within Mauna Loa during this pre‐eruptive interval may provide insights into how pre‐ and co‐eruptive processes manifest seismically at the volcano. In particular, the extent to which seismicity may be used to forecast the location and timing of future eruptions is unclear. To address these questions, we construct a catalog of relocated seismicity on Mauna Loa spanning 2011–2023. Our earthquake locations image complex, sub‐kilometer‐scale seismogenic structures in the caldera and southwest rift zone. We additionally identify a set of streaks of seismicity in the volcano's northwest flank that are radially oriented about the summit. Using a rate‐and‐state friction model for earthquake occurrences, we demonstrate that the seismicity rate in this region can be modeled as a function of the stressing history caused by magma accumulation beneath the summit. Finally, we observe a mid‐2019 step change in the seismicity rate in the Ka'oiki region that may have altered the stress state of the northeast rift zone in the three years before the eruption. Our observations provide a framework for interpreting future seismic unrest at Mauna Loa.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2239666
- PAR ID:
- 10541350
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
- Volume:
- 129
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 2169-9313
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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