• Question: how can you tell when a volcano is going to erupt?

    Asked by chlopitts to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 26 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by cat24, lena, jasmine06, winnie.
    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      Hi chlopitts,
      There are a number of clues we can use. For example, there may be a lot of small earthquakes (called an earthquake swarm) that happen just before, and we can detect them. Also, sometimes the volcano might expand by a few centimeters before it erupts, as the magma chamber fills with magma. So we can use these as clues.

      However, sometimes volcanoes just erupt with no prior warnings. Also, sometimes we see expansion and quake swarms, so we’re expecting an eruption, and then nothing happens. So it’s a really tricky thing to get right.

    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      Hi chlopitts,

      Another clue comes from nature, often just before eruptions and earthquakes (and other natural disaster events) there is evidence that animals run away. It has been suggested that they are in tune with the Earth in a way humans aren’t (though we may have been in the past) and so can sense that something is going to happen, due to changes in forces we can’t feel ourselves.

    • Photo: Davie Galloway

      Davie Galloway answered on 26 Jun 2012:

      hi chlopitts … james has just typed what i was thinking

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