If you have been following the Popocatepetl updates, you’ll know that I’ve been paying attention to the webicorder recently.

It’s fun to be able to see the volcano’s activity even when weather has it shrouded in clouds.

What is a webicorder?

What do earthquakes have to do with volcanoes?

A better question is, what can earthquakes (and webicorders) tell volcanologists about the events deep inside a fire mountain?

Popocatepetl, of course, is not a long-dormant volcano–its present activity began in 1994! I have no idea what I am looking at on the PPIG webicorder, but it’s fun to try to figure out.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory starts you out with lots of information on how to read a webicorder and also has live links to webicorders on Alaskan volcanoes.

And if you want even more information, check out the USGS seismogram display page! (Note: This includes non-volcano-monitoring seismometers, too.)

Featured image: Mammoth Mountain (left) by Geographer via Wikimedia, CC BY 1.0. Long Valley Caldera MEM webicorder (right; I don’t know if this relates to Mammoth Mountain), California Volcano Observatory