earthquakes and volcanoes

huangyhg

earthquakes and volcanoes
i pose a question - sort of a survey per se - to all engineers and geologists participating in this forum:
is the activity of earthquakes and volcanoes related or not?
i am speaking not only on a local, but a global perspective here.

mike mccann
mmc engineering
yes - seems so....  alaska - hold on to your butts....

yes, the two phenomena are both related to plate techtonics
no they are different. although there are seismic tremors due to volcanic activities, large/major earthquakes are caused by plate tectonics. plate tectonic earthquakes are different from the volcanic earthquake.
search for the sumatra earthquake for more info on plate tectonics.   
the majority of active volcanos are located in or near areas of active subduction zones. the plate stresses and movement in the subduction zones causes earthquakes and volcanos alike and therefore they are definitely related. yes, volcanic eruptions cause seismic tremors which are more properly defined as small earthquakes - again - one causes the other and they are intimately related.
see the following which seems to confirm that the sumatra quake caused a volcanic eruption:
some scientists confirm that the december (sumatra) earthquake had activated leuser mountain, a volcano in aceh province along the same range of peaks as mount talang, while the 2005 sumatran earthquake had sparked activity in lake toba, an ancient crater in sumatra. geologists say that the eruption of mount talang in april 2005 is connected to the december earthquake.
cvg nailed & concluded this topic.
it is true that the formation of volcanoes occur near the plate subductions (approximately 100km from plate boundaries, refer to
from
the attached pdf is a grade school teaching material for use by educators. it links earthquake to volcano activites indirectly, but physically related. for all interested, please pay attention to line 122 to line 130, starts p.15.
i'm glad to see most here think as me in that they are related.  my brother-in-law, a geologist and soils engineer has long discounted any connection between the two to me.  i attributed it to his schooling and wondered if this was the general consensus or if the general thinking on the subject had changed.  
i have long felt that everything boils down to energy, and the dissipation of energy seeking a position of equilibrium - steady state if you will.  considering the core of the earth as a source of that energy, along with the energy input of the sun and moon, i see it all as one large reservoir.  it is beyond me how one could not affect the other in some way.  just because we do not know how to detect or measure it does not mean it is not there.
mike mccann
mmc engineering
many times the people highly trained in certain area tends to neglect others that around it. i agree with your concluding statement - both are directly tied to energy in the center of earth, indirectly affected by energy in the universe.
seems we studied in the same grade school, or at least, the same book.