Regular, deep seismicity beneath Mt Cameroon volcano: lack of evidence for tidal triggering

Abstract

Mt Cameroon is an active basanite composite volcano on the West African coast which has erupted five times this century, the latest in October/November 1982. An interesting aspect of Mt Cameroon region seismicity is the regular occurrence of deep, near‐constant magnitude, low‐frequency microearthquakes near the volcano. The near‐regularity of occurrence of these limited magnitude range microearthquakes in a relatively small area, and the closeness of the region to the equator, where tidal deformation is greatest, suggests that a test for possible earth‐tide triggering of these events is a good idea. An examination of these deep events for semidiurnal tidal correlation, however, shows conclusively that no correlation exists between their time of occurrence and the tidal phase. Copyright © 1991, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved