Rumble III Volcano “blew its top!”
Posted by feww on March 13, 2009
Rumble III: “Catastrophic Eruption”
According to a UPI report, the underwater volcano Rumble III, located about 300km northeast of Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, has “blown its top.”
A ‘catastrophic eruption’ may have reduced the height of Rumble III underwater volcano by about 100m, researchers say. Image: GNS Science – Image may be subject to copyright.
Rumble III sits on the southern ridge of the Kermadec Arc of about 100 submarine volcanoes, and rises about 2,300m above the sea floor reaching to within 220m of the sea surface, has reportedly changed shape since 2007 when it was last mapped.
Researchers aboard the Thomas G Thompson, a US research vessel, found a “startling change” in the shape of its summit, which has lost about 100m, with the 800m-wide crater completely missing.
“The whole of that crater seems to be infilled, and the cone’s missing —so probably it blew up and most of the debris slid into the crater,” A researcher was quoted as saying.
Images taken by an underwater camera “showed the seabed strewn with lava boulders covered by black volcanic ash near the summit of the volcano,” the researcher said.
Rumble III Image
The Rumble III seamount, the largest of the Rumbles seamount group along the South Kermadec Ridge, rises 2300 m from the sea floor to within about 200 m of the sea surface. Collapse of the edifice produced a horseshoe-shaped caldera breached to the west and a large debris-avalanche deposit. Fresh-looking andesitic rocks have been dredged from the summit of Rumble III and basaltic lava from its flanks. Rumble III has been the source of several submarine eruptions detected by hydrophone signals. Early surveys placed its depth at 117 m, and later depths of about 200 m, 140 m, and 220 m were determined. Image and caption: GVP.
Volcano Name: Rumble III
Country: NZ
Region: South Kermadec Ridge
Volcano Type: Submarine volcano
Last Known Eruption: Sometime after 2007
Summit Elevation: -220 m (- 722 feet)
Latitude: 35.745°S (35°44’42″S)
Longitude: 178.478°E (178°28’42″E)
NZ Quake Report
Meanwhile a Magnitude 4.3 quake at a focal depth of 50 km struck about 50km south-west of the capital, Wellington on March 11 2009 at 9:46 UTC, GeoNet reported (Reference Number 3057877/G).
The epicenter of the earthquake was at: Latitude 41.70°S, Longitude 174.48°E
Earthquake map source: GeoNet, New Zealand. Image may be subject to copyright.
Related News Links:
Related Links:
- Tonga’s Metis Shoal may be erupting
- Earthquake Cluster Zone Closing in on New Zealand
- Magnitude 7 Earthquake Hits Kermadec Islands
- Mt Ruapehu Eruption Alert
feww said
Magnitude 5.3 – OFF EAST COAST OF THE NORTH ISLAND, N.Z.
Magnitude 5.3
Date-Time
– Wednesday, April 08, 2009 at 11:13:01 UTC
Location:
[38.776°S, 178.241°E]
Depth: 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region: OFF EAST COAST OF THE NORTH ISLAND, N.Z.
Distances:
25 km (15 miles) ESE of Gisborne, New Zealand
135 km (85 miles) NE of Napier, New Zealand
370 km (230 miles) SE of Auckland, New Zealand
405 km (250 miles) NE of WELLINGTON, New Zealand
Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 9.5 km (5.9 miles); depth fixed by location program
USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID us2009fea9
feww said
Latest Quake Update for New Zealand:
Universal Time: March 21 2009 at 20:28
NZ Daylight Time: Sunday, March 22 2009 at 9:28 am
Latitude, Longitude 37.79°S, 176.78°E
Focal Depth: 160 km
Richter magnitude 5.8
Region: Bay of Plenty
Location
* 10 km north of Matata
* 20 km north of Edgecumbe
* 30 km north-west of Whakatane
* 210 km south-east of Auckland
Reference Number 3063166/G
Earthquake was felt widely in the North Island of New Zealand. A resident living near Rotorua described as powerful shake that could have “split the bloody island.”
map link: geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/3063166g-maps.html
feww said
Quake Updates:
Mw 5.5 quake strikes near eastern Bay of Plenty [Mar 15, 2009]
GNS Science said the quake struck 100km north of White Island, at a depth of 170km at 6.38am and was felt in Opotiki, possibly the East Cape.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10561783
March 14, 2009 – A magnitude 5 quake struck 420 km (260 miles) SW of Invercargill, New Zealand, USGS said.
Location: 49.226°S, 164.639°E
Depth: 26.4 km (16.4 miles) set by location program
Region: AUCKLAND ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND REGION
Event ID: us2009eeaw
A Quake measuring 4.7 Mw struck 50km east of Taupo at a depth of 70km,
4.49pm Wednesday Mar 11, 2009 GNS Science reported.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10561162