Hawaiian Volcano Update: Kīlauea Quietly Refilling Post-Intrusion

Kīlaueaʻs earthquake counts stayed relatively low over the past week, still concentrated along the trace of recent intrusion into the Southwest Rift and beneath the volcano’s summit. Quakes are also occurring along the presumed magma pathway from Pāhala, 20 miles or 30 km deep far beneath Kīlauea’s southwest flank, seemingly in response to the recent intrusion. However, these deep earthquakes have little short-term effect on surface activity, and might instead be considered a sign of a robust longer-term magma supply.

The summit and south caldera area continues to generally inflate as it fills with magma underground, with ongoing cycles of deflation-inflation superimposed on the baseline signal. GPS signals across the volcano have also resumed their pre-intrusion trends, similarly documenting more filling since the start of the month. Volcanic gas emissions, the main current threat to residents and visitors, remained relatively low around 100 tonnes of SO2 per day, though is still of concern for sensitive individuals.

Otherwise, Maunaloa remains fairly quiet with few earthquakes and sustained inflation as it recharges with magma, and remains at the lowest USGS warning level. As usual we review the monitoring signals, imagery and reports available courtesy of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, annotating the presentation on screen and discussing live viewer questions as we go.

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