Is California's supervolcano set to blow? Scientists identify more than 2,000 quakes at the Long Valley Caldera that they say 'are precursors for an eruption' (LA under 3000 feet of ash)

Daily Mail ^ | 10/23/23 | Stacy Liberatore

[Libloather]

California's supervolcano that has the power to bury Los Angeles in more than 3,000 feet of ash is showing signs of activity.

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) identified over 2,000 earthquakes rumbling throughout the Long Valley Caldera in recent years.

The team conducted a new investigation to see if the seismic activity was a sign of impending doom or that the risk of a massive eruption was decreasing.

Caltech researchers created detailed underground images of the caldera, finding that the recent seismic activity results from fluids and gases released as the area cools off and settles down.

The study author Zhongwen Zhan said: 'We don't think the region is gearing up for another supervolcanic eruption, but the cooling process may release enough gas and liquid to cause earthquakes and small eruptions.

'For example, in May 1980, there were four magnitude 6 earthquakes in the region alone.'

A critical finding with the images revealed the volcano's magma chamber is covered by a hardened lid of crystallized rock, formed as the liquid magma cools down and solidifies.

The long-dormant volcano was the site of a super explosion 767,000 years ago, releasing 140 miles of volcanic material into the atmosphere and devastating the land.

Zhan and his team placed dozens of seismometers throughout the Eastern Sierra region to capture seismic measurements in a process called distributed acoustic sensing (DAS).

They covered 62 miles of the caldera with cables to capture underground snapshots.

Over a year and a half, the team used the cable to measure more than 2,000 seismic events, most too small to be felt by people.

A machine learning algorithm then processed those measurements and developed the resulting image, showing the locations of each quake.

Emily Montgomery-Brown, an expert on the Long Valley Caldera...

[fireman15]

25 years ago my wife and I were flying down to LA in our small airplane from the Seattle area. Poor weather caused us to have to head across the mountains first and then proceed South on the eastern side of the Cascades. The warm front that was blowing in from the Pacific was creating thunderstorms and we kept having to divert further and further to the East. Things finally began to clear up when we were over Northern Nevada and we turned back toward California. We flew back over the cascades which were completely covered by clouds into a strong headwind and severe bumpiness.

My wife pointed to the North at Mount Shasta, but then I noticed a cloud ahead of us that was actually a peak poking through higher than we were flying. It was Lassen Peak which reaches to approximately 10’500 feet above sea level. It is the volcano in California that erupted most recently in 1921. I had never heard of it before.

[Steven Scharf]

3,000 feet of ash , higher than Mount Everest , really ?

Mount Everest is 29,000 feet above sea level.

[Lake Living]

I’ve been hoping for one under Washington DC

[maddog55]

3000 feet of ash is almost enough to cover the shxt that is LA.

[chud]

My wife pointed to the North at Mount Shasta, but then I noticed a cloud ahead of us that was actually a peak poking through higher than we were flying. It was Lassen Peak which reaches to approximately 10’500 feet above sea level. It is the volcano in California that erupted most recently in 1921. I had never heard of it before.

Dang, I hadn't either. I just read about it though. It's part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc.
Impressive...

[Revel]

No it was 768,001 years and 18 days exactly.

[Verginius Rufus]

Lassen National Park is beautiful. I’ve backpacked there a couple of times (many years ago). Fascinating to see areas that haven’t recovered from the latest eruptions, those partly grown back, and dense forests. The highway through the western part of the park takes you to a number of interesting volcano-related sites.

[Track9]

I’m surprised the cables weren’t stolen for scrap.

[11th_VA]

So we shouldn’t sweat whose speaker I guess ?

[oldvirginian]

But I don’t want to land in the New York City
I don’t want to land in Mexico
I don’t want to land on no Three Mile Island
I don’t want to see my skin aglow
I don’t want to land in Commanchee sky park
Or in Nashville, Tennessee
I don’t want to land in no San Juan airport
Or in Yukon Territory
I don’t want to land in no San Diego
I don’t want to land in no Buzzard’s Bay
I don’t want to land on no Ayatollah
I got nothing more to say