Volcanoes and earthquakes are some of the most destructive force of nature , and many question when the nextsupervolcanic eruptionor“big one”tremor will convey culture to its knees . In stark direct contrast to this apocalyptic report , an perfectly bizarre raw study has revealed that , on function , volcanoes may stop earthquake numb in their rail .
Writing in the journalScience , the squad from Kyoto University describes the fair titanic battle in Japan between the April 16 , 2016 , Kumamoto seism and the Mount Aso caldera .
Thequakewas one of several in a serial publication of closely - space shallow earth tremor that injured M of people and killed at least 49 . Shaking part of the western isle of Kyushu , it appear to be centered at a point roughly 30 km ( 19 international mile ) away from the volcano .
Reaching amagnitude of 7.3 , the destructive effect was return by a complex fault web slipping forrard at a relatively shallow depth of only 10 kilometers ( 6 miles ) .
Most quakes in the region are far thick . They are primarily triggered by the descending of the Philippine Sea plate , and any Modern fling in the rock incline not to snake up to the surface . However , the Kumamoto tremor cracked open rock right beneath the metrical unit of million .
A batholithic single-valued function of the Aso caldera , with loss representing bloom and Green River representing low - lie land . NASA
Using a combination of seismic before - and - after data and satellite imagery , the team realized the severance breached the Aso caldera and come to a sudden stop . It look that a zone of magma rising up to recognise the world halted the so - called “ unzipping ” of the quake by redirected the incoming emphasis and strain upward , before absorbing the insistence .
Lead author Aiming Lin , a professor of geophysical science at Kyoto University , told IFLScience that this event was the first such interaction of its kind that had ever been officially discovered . However , Lin said that this “ may not really be a rarified example , ” noting that standardised events may have pass off in 1707 and 1930 in primal and eastern Japan .
Regardless , this earthquake was already fairly severe as it is , but it appears that the Aso supervolcano may have saved the area from a far more destructive event . However , there is a colored side to the tale that can not be disregard .
Volcanologists are acutely cognisant that when a magma source ’s internal insistence outstrip that of the confining pressure exerted by the surround rock candy , the roof tends to collapse and the magma rushes up , sometimes catastrophically .
There are many matter that can cause dangerous internal imperativeness step-up , including changes in the chemistry of the magma , or nearby , highly - energetic events . These can potentiallyinclude sizeable earthquakes , which transfer additional stress to the magma .
Additionally , young fractures can provide paths for magma to effortlessly migrate up to the aerofoil . Either could have bump in Kyushu this yr and caused Aso to erupt – and this study think that perhaps it did .
“ We play down this sense during the review unconscious process , ” Lin enjoin . However , the “ Aso volcanoerupted on October 8after a 36 - year - longsighted hibernating length . This adopt place the very twenty-four hours our newspaper was accepted by Science . ”
Although it was far from being a so - call supervolcanic eruption , the huge ash column that resurrect from one of its many nested peaks was a perhaps not coincidental signboard of what thenear - hereafter will be likeif more shallow quake take place .
Or , of form , there was a chance it was just that - a co-occurrence . It ’s difficult to say without more information .
An effervescent eruption at Sakurajima , a nearby stratovolcano that feed off the same huge magma source . bikeriderlondon / Shutterstock
