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IMAGE: Field crew downloading data from a continuously operating Global Positioning station in the Sierra Negra caldera, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. view more
Credit: Keith Williams (UMAVCO, Inc).
Hours before the 2018 eruption of Sierra Negra, the Galápagos Islands largest volcano, an earthquake rumbled and raised the ground more than 6 feet in an instant. The event, which triggered the eruption, was captured in rare detail by an international team of scientists, who said it offers new insights into one of the world s most active volcanoes. The power of this study is that it s one of the first times we ve been able to see a full eruptive cycle in this detail at almost any volcano, said Peter La Femina, associate professor of geosciences at Penn State. We ve monitored Sierra Negra from when it last erupted in 2005 through the 2018 eruption and beyond, and we have this beautiful record that s a rarity in itself.