Hawai‘i Volcano Activity Update: Feb. 15, 2018

Lava within Hawai‘i’s Halema‘uma‘u Summit Crater lights up the night. Big Island Now stock photo.

This past week, Kīlauea Volcano’s summit lava lake level fluctuated with summit inflation and deflation, ranging about 120 to 133 feet below the vent rim. On the East Rift Zone, the 61g lava flow remained active downslope of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with scattered breakouts on the pali and coastal plain, but no ocean entry. The 61g flows do not pose an immediate threat to nearby communities.

Mauna Loa Volcano is not erupting. Small-magnitude earthquakes occurred beneath the summit caldera and upper Southwest Rift Zone at depths less than three miles, with a few deeper earthquakes at three to eight miles in depth beneath the volcano’s west flank. GPS and InSAR measurements continue to show slow deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone. No significant changes in volcanic gas emissions were measured.

One earthquake with three or more felt reports occurred in Hawaiʻi this past week: on Feb. 13 at 1:01 p.m. HST, a magnitude-3.1 earthquake, two miles south of Kailua-Kona and 25 miles deep.

The “Hawai‘i Volcano Activity Update” is a weekly article written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates.

Call for summary updates at (808) 967-8862 (Kīlauea) or (808) 967-8866 (Mauna Loa); email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.