According to USGS, one of the nation’s most dangerous volcanoes is showing signs of life this weekend. USGS detected more than 80 earthquakes in the last 24 hours around the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) released in a statement today, “Over the past day, seismicity picked up in the south caldera region, but has remained steady. Kilauea summit remains pressurized; in recent months unrest has escalated quickly, and an eruption could occur in the future with little warning. ” Kilauea is an active shield volcano located along the southeastern shore of Hawaii’s easternmost island; it last had an eruption in September.
HVO added, “Rates of seismicity in the south caldera area increased yesterday morning, but remained stable through the day. This morning, seismicity is somewhat lower, but a tiltmeter near Sand Hill indicates ongoing inflationary deformation Periods of increased seismicity can be expected to continue during re-pressurization of the summit magma reservoir, which has been ongoing since the end of the September 2023 eruption. Kilauea’s summit region remains at a high level of inflation. Together with the increase in seismicity yesterday morning, a tiltmeter near Sand Hill indicated an increase in inflationary tilt. The tilt rate has remained steady over the past 24 hours (neither increasing nor decreasing). A tiltmeter near Uēkahuna bluff also responded to yesterday’s events, but to a lesser degree, as this instrument is not as sensitive to south caldera changes.”