(BIVN) – Kīlauea Volcano is not erupting, and things have been quiet so far in September.
“Following the recent intrusion of magma beneath the surface in the area south of Kīlauea caldera, which slowed substantially on August 30, earthquake rates and ground deformation in this area have remained near pre-intrusion levels,” the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported in its weekly update on Tuesday. “Other monitoring data streams, including sulfur dioxide emission rates and webcam views, show no significant changes.”
Scientists say there are currently no indications that the Halema‘uma‘u vent at the summit will resume eruption, and no unusual activity has been noted in the Kīlauea East Rift Zone.
The USGS HVO reported these summit observations on September 7:
Over the past week, 75 small-magnitude earthquakes – all below M2.5 – were detected beneath the summit region of Kīlauea. Most of these earthquakes occurred approximately 1-4 kilometers (0.6-2.5 miles) below ground level in the area south of Kīlauea caldera, where the recent intrusion was focused, but this earthquake rate is a fraction of that from the previous week when 732 events were detected in the area. Since August 30, tiltmeters have not detected any substantial ground deformation in the summit region. These observations suggest that the supply of new magma to the intrusion has slowed or stopped.
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rates remain at very low levels that have persisted since May 2021, when the most recent summit eruption ended. The latest SO2 emission rates – measured on September 2 – were 115 tonnes per day, close to levels associated with the non-eruptive period from late 2018 to late 2020 (less than 50 tonnes per day). The present rates are significantly lower than the average of over 800 tonnes per day that prevailed from mid-February to mid-April when the Kīlauea summit eruption was ongoing.
The current Kilauea Volcano Alert Level is ADVISORY and the Aviation Color Code is YELLOW.
by Big Island Video News1:10 pm
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STORY SUMMARY
HAWAIʻI VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK - Following the recent intrusion of magma beneath the summit, activity has returned to pre-intrusion levels.