ScienceDaily (Dec. 17, 2009) — Like an angry dog, a volcano growls before it bites, shaking the ground and getting "noisy" before erupting. This activity gives scientists an opportunity to study the tumult beneath a volcano and may help them improve the accuracy of eruption forecasts, according to Emily Brodsky, an associate professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory monitors earthquake activity at Augustine volcano (above), which erupted most recently in 2006. (Credit: Photo by Cyrus Read, image courtesy of AVO/USGS)

Brodsky presents recent findings on pre-eruption earthquakes on Wednesday, December 16, at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

Each volcano has its own personality. Some rumble consistently, while others stop and start. Some rumble and erupt the same day, while others take months, and some never do erupt. Brodsky is trying to find the rules behind these personalities.

"Volcanoes almost always make some noise before they erupt, but they don't erupt every time they make noise," she said. "One of the big challenges of a volcano observatory is how to handle all the false alarms."

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