Massive Magma Buildup Discovered Beneath New Zealand Town: Should We Panic?

Scientists have found magma building up quietly underneath the town of Matata, New Zealand. The magma buildup is enough to push the surface up by 40cm.The scientists claimed that the magma buildup signals the beginning of a new volcano, however, it does not indicate that an eruption is imminent.

The team of Geophysicists from the New Zealand research institute GNS Science, led by Ian Hamling, used a combination of survey data and recent GPS and satellite images, to measure how much the earth around the area has lifted or compressed.

It was found that since 1950, enough magma to fill 80,000 Olympic-size swimming pools has squeezed up beneath the surface near the coastal town of Matata, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Auckland, Hamling said.

The team discovered an area of land about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) which has risen by 40 centimeters (16 inches) since 1950. While, other parts of New Zealand have active volcanoes, it was thought there were none near Matata in the last 400,000 years.

"It was quite a big surprise," Hamling said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Mr. Hamling said there was a period of quick uplift between 2004 and 2011, which would have triggered the earthquakes - previously believed to have been caused by tectonic plate shifts.

The research team have calculated that the magma is still about 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the surface, deep enough that there isn't any risk of it erupting in the near future. In fact, there are even chances that the magma buildup might not even turn into a volcano at all - the magma could eventually cool and harden.

Hamling said it was unusual worldwide to discover magma buildup in an area with no volcanoes. However, modern equipment allowed the research team to accurately measure tiny horizontal and vertical changes in the coastal land.

He hopes that further study would lead to development of a warning system for earthquakes in the area.

The research findings are featured in the journal Science Advances.