Abstract
A dramatic short-term increase in seismicity and ground deformation took place at Rabaul Caldera on 19 September 1983, and marked the start of a period of frequent episodes of high seismic energy release and concurrent rapid ground deformation. Together with increased background levels of seismicity and ground deformation, these phenomena are interpreted as indications of higher rates of magma injection at shallow depths within the caldera, which greatly increases the likelihod of an eruption at Rabaul in the near future. A modest volume of magma, about 100 million m3, could be available for eruption from two shallow reservoirs, but a somewhat deeper and much larger magma body — residual from the latest major eruption about 1400 yr BP — may also exist beneath the caldera.
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McKee, C.O., Lowenstein, P.L., De Saint Ours, P. et al. Seismic and ground deformation crises at Rabaul Caldera: Prelude to an eruption?. Bull Volcanol 47, 397–411 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01961569
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01961569