(BIVN) – Kīlauea volcano is not erupting, and the USGS alert level remains at ADVISORY, as the increase in earthquakes near the summit continued into Monday. 

“An increase in seismicity in the south caldera region that started on Saturday is continuing, but has remained steady,” wrote the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Monday morning. “Kīlauea summit remains pressurized; in recent months unrest has escalated quickly, and an eruption could occur in the future with little warning.”

(From the USGS HVO) Above Top: Number of earthquakes per day during the past week (blue bars). The red line is the cumulative moment (energy) release. Bottom: Depth of earthquakes during the past week in the area shown on the map above. Depth is reported relative to sea level, which is equal to a depth of zero on the above plot. On both figures, circle-size represents magnitude, and color indicates depth.

As of Monday morning, there were no new closures in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park due to the uptick in the signs of Kīlauea unrest. The only closure in the park relates the summit of Mauna Loa, which was shut down due to an ongoing High Wind Warning affecting Hawaiʻi island summits. 

From the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Monday:

Summit Observations:  South caldera seismicity was slightly quieter yesterday, but still elevated above background. The cluster of activity continues and in general, rates have been fairly steady since Saturday morning. Periods of increased seismicity can be expected to continue during repressurization of the summit magma reservoir, which has been ongoing since the end of the September 2023 eruption. 

Kīlauea’s summit region remains at a high level of inflation. Tiltmeters near Sand Hill and Uēkahuna bluff indicate ongoing inflationary tilt localized to the south caldera area. After a brief decrease yesterday, at midnight last night they returned to showing similar rates as on Saturday.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas emission rates remain low. Field measurements indicated an SO2 emission rate of approximately 70 tonnes per day on January 17, which was similar to measurements in October, November, and early December.