Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano shows more signs of elevated unrest

Another boost in volcanic activity has been observed at Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano, though an eruption is not occurring, officials with the U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday.

There have been several small increases in seismic activity between Saturday and Tuesday, the USGS said. The agency described Wednesday’s earthquake activity as still low, with around eight earthquakes, according to the USGS. There have been about 110 total small quakes in the recent past, most of them below a magnitude of 2.0.

But volcanologists say there is continued swelling of the ground around the volcano’s summit, and seismic activity suggests it is due to the increased amounts of magma stored and built up underneath the summit.

The USGS is maintaining a yellow advisory level for this event, which means the volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest.  

With reports of the recent activity and new ground movement, the USGS made a note of hazardous conditions in the area, such as uneven terrain, crater wall instability, and falling rocks.

With the increase in activity, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory says it will now give daily updates, instead of the usual once a week.

The last eruption to occur at Kīlauea was near the Nāpau Crater at the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park from Sept. 15-20.

The lava flow from the eruption covered more than 880,000 square meters (217 acres). The eruption caused a “fissure” or crack near the crater that measured 1,600 feet.

Since then, rates of seismicity and ground deformation have decreased significantly. According to the USGS, the magma continues to move at a low rate, but future eruptions can occur because of the magma supply within the volcano.