Hawaiian Volcano Update: Kīlauea Quakes Cycle Up & Down Again, May 23, 2024

Kīlauea’s earthquakes cycled through another ramp-up and cool-down over the past weekend, before quieting again for much of this week. Still, the volcano continues to fill with magma underground, swelling most around its South Caldera and Koaʻe Fault Zone. Several GPS stations in that area show up to 1 foot of vertical uplift over the last 3 months, following the massive Southwest Rift intrusion in late January and early February. Pressure continues to build within Kīlauea, but ever since its last eruption in September 2023, the volcano has been able to respond through accommodating ground movements.

There is currently no increased hazard to people, with volcanic gas emissions still the main threat to residents and visitors between eruptions. Gas measurements remain relatively low around 60 tonnes of SO2 per day, still of concern for sensitive residents and visitors nearby. Maunaloa continues to recharge following activity in 2022, remaining relatively quiet with few earthquakes and sustained slow inflation, in addition to occasional flank movement in response to events on neighboring Kīlauea.

To wrap up our coverage of the centennial of the 1924 eruption, we present a clip by USGS-HVO’s Don Swanson examining the explosive products of that eruption, from last week’s After Dark in the Park at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. As most of the large blocks ejected in 1924 remained relatively close to the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu, a large majority collapsed into the 2018 pit, but there are a few exceptions to the north of the collapse and on portions of the down-dropped block not yet covered by lava. Shifting our volcano awareness focus, we briefly mark the progression of the 2018 eruption through its first month. During that first phase, lava remnant from previous eruptions was flushed out through 23 fissures in Leilani Estates. Lava flows from multiple fissures merged to reach the ocean to the south near Mackenzie State Recreation Area for several days in late May, by which point at least 78 homes had been taken.

Our goal since the 2018 eruption remains to improve disaster preparedness, response and recovery through volcano education and resilience network building, so that our communities will be more resilient in the face of similarly impactful events. As usual, we review the monitoring signals, imagery, and reports available courtesy of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, annotating the presentation on screen as we go and discussing live viewer questions. To support our productions please like, share and subscribe, and consider making a donation at https://hveri.org/donate .

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/live/bMmP5S8xjRQ

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