This week, Eruptions' Erik Klemetti sparked interest in the recent rumblings heard coming from Mt. Rainier in Washington State when he responded to a reader's comment on increased seismic activity in the area over the past month. Klemetti's response post, which reported on concrete facts surrounding the geologic events and featured a detailed graph of Mt. Rainier's seismic activity over the past year, yielded a slew of comments and stirred fellow blogger, Greg Laden, to post a related story, which also garnered lively commentary. Ironically, Klemetti's following post detailed this viral media phenomenon, commenting on a recent article in Australia's Brisbane Times hyping an "overdue" volcanic eruption as "full of nothing but vapid speculation and media fear-mongering." The juxtaposition sheds light on the power--and responsibility--engendered in science writers, journalists, bloggers and other media makers.
- What might be happening at Mt. Rainier? on Eruptions
- Time to start watching Mt. Rainier? on Greg Laden's Blog
- Is Australia "overdue" for a volcanic eruption? on Eruptions
This quickly led to a lot of commenting on my blog, and lively discussion about the caldera.