(Stuff) – A swarm of small earthquakes continues around Whakaari/White Island, but so far there’s no indication the quakes are connected to the volcano. Since Thursday, GeoNet has recorded more than 300 earthquakes, centered 20km deep or less, under the sea surrounding the Bay of Plenty island. Most have been to the west and south, and the largest had a magnitude of 3.9. GNS Science volcano information
specialist Brad Scott said scientists were not aware of anything in particular that had set the swarm off. It wasn’t known whether the location of the swarm close to the island was just a coincidence, or whether there was some sort of relationship. For now, there was no indication of any volcanic activity on Whakaari/White Island, Scott said. “We’re not seeing any response from the volcano.” The type of earthquakes in the swarm was of the tectonic type, where the cold, brittle rock was being broken. READ MORE
