Volcano Activity Update: March 9, 2017

ExtremeExposure photo, March 4, 2017.

Kīlauea continues to erupt at its summit and East Rift Zone.

This past week, the summit lava lake level varied between about 43 to 112 feet below the vent rim.

The 61g flow was still active, with lava entering the ocean near Kamokuna and surface breakouts downslope of Puʻu ʻŌʻō on the pali and the coastal plain.

The 61g flows do not pose an immediate threat to nearby communities.

Mauna Loa is not erupting.

During the past week, small-magnitude earthquakes continued to occur beneath the volcano, primarily beneath the east flank and upper Southwest Rift Zone.

GPS measurements continue to show deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone.

No significant change in the summit fumarole temperature or gas output was noted this past week.

Five earthquakes were reported felt in Hawai‘i in the past week.

On Sunday, March 5, four earthquakes were felt in the span of 11 minutes between 6:06 and 6:17 a.m. HST. These earthquakes, ranging in magnitude from 3.8 to 3.1 occurred in Kīlauea’s Upper East Rift Zone between 3.6 miles and 2.6 miles southeast of the Kīlauea summit at depths of 1.7 miles to 1.3 miles.

On Thursday, March 9, at 3:03 a.m. HST, a magnitude 4.2 earthquake occurred 64.8 km (40.2 mi) northeast of Kaunakakai, Moloka‘i at a depth of 10.6 miles.

This weekly activity update is written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates.