The BBC is reporting today on a study published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters that attempts to establish a connection between large earthquakes and subsequent volcanic eruptions. The study is focussed on large Chilean earthquakes over the last 200 years (Chile has had some of the biggest, hitting M9 on the Richter Scale) and then examining the number of volcanic eruptions that followed. They find that activity increased in the year after the earthquakes. This suggests that many volcanoes might be "primed" to erupt and just need a catalyst like a large seismic event to promote eruption.
This effect was seen as far as 500 km from the epicenter of the earthquake, which makes for some fascinating speculations for future volcano predictions. For instance, what happens when we have the next big Cascadia subduction zone earthquake in the Pacific northwest? The last major one was in 1700 (and yes, ...
