In recent years, a series of several hundred earthquakes have occurred underneath the town of Matata in northern New Zealand which could not be explained by faulting. The cause of these earthquakes is instead the movement of magma, which over time have uplifted the town by 40 centimeters. It is thought that this still expanding body of molten rock could eventually reach the surface, producing the newest volcano in New Zealand. So, just how likely is this magma to erupt? This video will answer this question and discuss when a volcano might form.

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Graphics of eruption dates are courtesy of the Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institute. https://volcano.si.edu/

0:00 Magma is Moving Underneath a Town
0:30 Uplift
0:57 Geologic Setting
1:45 Amount of Magma Present
2:06 A New Volcano?
2:52 Earthquake Hazard
Google Earth imagery used in this video: ©Google

Thumbnail Photo Credit: USGS, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory