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Nightingale Island

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Volcanic Region
  • Landform | Volc Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  • 37.42°S
  • 12.48°W

  • 365 m
    1,198 ft

  • 386011
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

Most Recent Weekly Report: 28 July-3 August 2004 Citation IconCite this Report

According to a news report, a swarm of earthquakes occurred beneath Tristan da Cunha during the nights of 28 and 29 July. A scientist monitoring seismic activity from the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Vienna International Centre indicated that the main swarm lasted ~8 hours and occurred ~30 km below the volcano. After the swarm, there were a few individual earthquakes and then activity tapered off.

Source: Tristan Times


Most Recent Bulletin Report: August 2004 (BGVN 29:08) Citation IconCite this Report

Earthquake swarm on 29-30 July followed by floating pumice

[This event was originally assigned to Tristan da Cunha, but later work located the earthquake swarm on the SE submarine flank of Nightingale Island, about 40 km S.]

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) in Vienna operates a recently installed (July 2002) satellite-linked real-time hydroacoustic station on the island of Tristan da Cunha, with two elements (figure 1). These are designed to record T phases and use three-component short-period seismometers sampled at 100 samples per second. Roderick Stewart, a scientist with the CTBTO, reported that seismic activity, including several felt events, occurred in the vicinity of Tristan da Cunha in July and August 2004. This is the first time that seismicity near this volcano has been instrumentally recorded.

Figure (see Caption) Figure 1. Map of the island of Tristan da Cunha showing the locations of the two CTBTO hydroacoustic stations. Station locations courtesy of R. Stewart, CTBTO.

An intense swarm of seismic activity was recorded, and felt, on the night of 29-30 July. The activity lasted approximately six hours and peaked around 2100-2200 UTC on 29 July. There were a number of large earthquakes in the swarm; the largest, at approximately 2220 UTC on 29 July, had a body-wave magnitude of 4.2. The epicenter was in the vicinity of the island, but location uncertainties make it impossible to say whether the source was onshore or offshore. Seismic activity continued to be recorded, and occasionally felt, throughout August 2004, but was declining slowly (figure 2). No long-period earthquakes or tremor signals were positively identified although, according to Stewart, the temporal pattern of the swarm appeared to be volcanic. A pseudo-RSAM plot of the data from one of the stations showed that the activity grew gradually to a peak over a period of two or three hours and that the larger events occurred after this peak.

Figure (see Caption) Figure 2. Hourly count of earthquakes at Tristan da Cunha from 27 July to 31 August 2004. Events were counted manually on constant gain plots. The counts of earthquakes during the initial swarm were more than 100 per hour. Courtesy of R. Stewart, CTBTO.

Stewart described the earthquakes as follows. "All the earthquake signals were impulsive with well-developed P and S phases, typical of volcano-tectonic activity. With only two stations, it is not possible to determine individual hypocentres with any confidence and the locations of the earthquakes can only be inferred from general observations made on the data. First-motion analysis of the P waves was made difficult because the arrivals were very small on the horizontal components. However, it was possible to determine that the P wave was always arriving from the SE at both stations and that the angle of incidence of the arriving P wave was very steep, within 10 degrees of vertical. S-P times were between 4 and 5 seconds at both stations, with H09N1 typically a fraction of a second longer than H09W1. Depending on the velocities assumed, these S-P times indicate that the earthquakes were between 20 and 30 km from the stations. The simplest interpretation of both the above observations is that the earthquakes occurred at depth directly below the volcano. However, an offshore location to the SE cannot be ruled out. What is certain is that these events occurred close to the volcano."

Reports from the island of rocks floating in the water in the days following the seismic activity, along with an initial offshore estimate of the location of the largest earthquake (which had large uncertainties), led to speculation of an underwater eruption. One newspaper account from the Tristan Times on 6 August described "angular and not round" rocks seen by fishermen floating "all around the Island." In a 14 September BBC World Service interview, Island Administrator Mike Hentley stated that fishermen found "huge lumps of [pumice], up to 10 or 12 kg floating on the surface to the south/west of the Island." He further described the pumice as "a very crumbly, light grey stone." Samples of this pumice collected by James Glass (figure 3) are being sent to the Global Volcanism Program.

Figure (see Caption) Figure 3. Photographs of pumice collected near Tristan da Cunha, August 2004. No scale or size description was provided with the photos, but the top photo of the single sample appears to have been taken on a window ledge and the bottom photo of multiple samples on a bench `seat cushion. Courtesy of James Glass, Tristan Times.

The Tristan Times also reported on 30 September that volcanologist Victoria Hards from the British Geological Survey (BGS) arrived on the island on 10 September to assess the potential threat of the recent seismic activity. She reportedly determined that the 29-30 July event was caused by rising magma 25 km SE of the island. She also noted that there was no sign of activity at the 1961 eruption site, and no eruption was imminent so there was no threat to the settlement. The BGS planned to monitor the seismic data over the next four months to assess any longer-term implications.

Information Contacts: David Booth, British Geological Survey, Murchison House, Edinburgh EH9 3LA, UK; Roderick Stewart, Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), Vienna International Centre, PO Box 1200, A-1400 Vienna, Austria; Juanita Brock and James Glass, Tristan Times (URL: http://www.tristantimes.com); BBC World Service (URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/).

Weekly Reports - Index


2004: July


28 July-3 August 2004 Citation IconCite this Report

According to a news report, a swarm of earthquakes occurred beneath Tristan da Cunha during the nights of 28 and 29 July. A scientist monitoring seismic activity from the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Vienna International Centre indicated that the main swarm lasted ~8 hours and occurred ~30 km below the volcano. After the swarm, there were a few individual earthquakes and then activity tapered off.

Source: Tristan Times


Bulletin Reports - Index

Reports are organized chronologically and indexed below by Month/Year (Publication Volume:Number), and include a one-line summary. Click on the index link or scroll down to read the reports.

08/2004 (BGVN 29:08) Earthquake swarm on 29-30 July followed by floating pumice




Information is preliminary and subject to change. All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


August 2004 (BGVN 29:08) Citation IconCite this Report

Earthquake swarm on 29-30 July followed by floating pumice

[This event was originally assigned to Tristan da Cunha, but later work located the earthquake swarm on the SE submarine flank of Nightingale Island, about 40 km S.]

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) in Vienna operates a recently installed (July 2002) satellite-linked real-time hydroacoustic station on the island of Tristan da Cunha, with two elements (figure 1). These are designed to record T phases and use three-component short-period seismometers sampled at 100 samples per second. Roderick Stewart, a scientist with the CTBTO, reported that seismic activity, including several felt events, occurred in the vicinity of Tristan da Cunha in July and August 2004. This is the first time that seismicity near this volcano has been instrumentally recorded.

Figure (see Caption) Figure 1. Map of the island of Tristan da Cunha showing the locations of the two CTBTO hydroacoustic stations. Station locations courtesy of R. Stewart, CTBTO.

An intense swarm of seismic activity was recorded, and felt, on the night of 29-30 July. The activity lasted approximately six hours and peaked around 2100-2200 UTC on 29 July. There were a number of large earthquakes in the swarm; the largest, at approximately 2220 UTC on 29 July, had a body-wave magnitude of 4.2. The epicenter was in the vicinity of the island, but location uncertainties make it impossible to say whether the source was onshore or offshore. Seismic activity continued to be recorded, and occasionally felt, throughout August 2004, but was declining slowly (figure 2). No long-period earthquakes or tremor signals were positively identified although, according to Stewart, the temporal pattern of the swarm appeared to be volcanic. A pseudo-RSAM plot of the data from one of the stations showed that the activity grew gradually to a peak over a period of two or three hours and that the larger events occurred after this peak.

Figure (see Caption) Figure 2. Hourly count of earthquakes at Tristan da Cunha from 27 July to 31 August 2004. Events were counted manually on constant gain plots. The counts of earthquakes during the initial swarm were more than 100 per hour. Courtesy of R. Stewart, CTBTO.

Stewart described the earthquakes as follows. "All the earthquake signals were impulsive with well-developed P and S phases, typical of volcano-tectonic activity. With only two stations, it is not possible to determine individual hypocentres with any confidence and the locations of the earthquakes can only be inferred from general observations made on the data. First-motion analysis of the P waves was made difficult because the arrivals were very small on the horizontal components. However, it was possible to determine that the P wave was always arriving from the SE at both stations and that the angle of incidence of the arriving P wave was very steep, within 10 degrees of vertical. S-P times were between 4 and 5 seconds at both stations, with H09N1 typically a fraction of a second longer than H09W1. Depending on the velocities assumed, these S-P times indicate that the earthquakes were between 20 and 30 km from the stations. The simplest interpretation of both the above observations is that the earthquakes occurred at depth directly below the volcano. However, an offshore location to the SE cannot be ruled out. What is certain is that these events occurred close to the volcano."

Reports from the island of rocks floating in the water in the days following the seismic activity, along with an initial offshore estimate of the location of the largest earthquake (which had large uncertainties), led to speculation of an underwater eruption. One newspaper account from the Tristan Times on 6 August described "angular and not round" rocks seen by fishermen floating "all around the Island." In a 14 September BBC World Service interview, Island Administrator Mike Hentley stated that fishermen found "huge lumps of [pumice], up to 10 or 12 kg floating on the surface to the south/west of the Island." He further described the pumice as "a very crumbly, light grey stone." Samples of this pumice collected by James Glass (figure 3) are being sent to the Global Volcanism Program.

Figure (see Caption) Figure 3. Photographs of pumice collected near Tristan da Cunha, August 2004. No scale or size description was provided with the photos, but the top photo of the single sample appears to have been taken on a window ledge and the bottom photo of multiple samples on a bench `seat cushion. Courtesy of James Glass, Tristan Times.

The Tristan Times also reported on 30 September that volcanologist Victoria Hards from the British Geological Survey (BGS) arrived on the island on 10 September to assess the potential threat of the recent seismic activity. She reportedly determined that the 29-30 July event was caused by rising magma 25 km SE of the island. She also noted that there was no sign of activity at the 1961 eruption site, and no eruption was imminent so there was no threat to the settlement. The BGS planned to monitor the seismic data over the next four months to assess any longer-term implications.

Information Contacts: David Booth, British Geological Survey, Murchison House, Edinburgh EH9 3LA, UK; Roderick Stewart, Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), Vienna International Centre, PO Box 1200, A-1400 Vienna, Austria; Juanita Brock and James Glass, Tristan Times (URL: http://www.tristantimes.com); BBC World Service (URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/).

The Global Volcanism Program has no synonyms or subfeatures listed for Nightingale Island.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 1 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

2004 Jul 29 - 2004 Jul 30 Confirmed Eruption VEI: 0

Episode 1 | Eruption Submarine SE flank
2004 Jul 29 - 2004 Jul 30 Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 3 Events for Episode 1 at Submarine SE flank

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice
   - - - -    - - - - Earthquakes (undefined)
2004 Jul 29    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)
Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Nightingale Island.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Nightingale Island.

GVP Map Holdings

The Global Volcanism Program has no maps available for Nightingale Island.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Nightingale Island in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites