Hawaiian Volcano Update: Kīlauea Swelling Further

March rounds out quietly on Kīlauea, with relatively few earthquakes this month thus far compared to the end of January and beginning of February. This past week, seismicity continues to cluster in the south caldera and upper southwest rift, with sporadic events still occurring in the lower southwest rift. The south caldera and upper southwest rift area continues to swell, accumulating nearly 25 microradians of ground tilt over the past month, half of that within the last week. However, without an increase in earthquakes, a resumption of surface activity is likely still some time away. Volcanic gas emissions, the main current threat to residents and visitors, remain relatively low around 90 tonnes of SO2 per day, though are still a concern for sensitive individuals nearby.

Maunaloa is also still 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 as we go and discussing live viewer questions.

As a bonus this week, we review the USGS presentation on deep Pāhala earthquake activity since 2015 from Volcano Awareness Month in January 2024. We also continue the first donation drive of the year for our nonprofit work.