No notable earthquake swarms reported beneath Kīlauea over the past 24 hours

Elevated seismic activity continues in an area south of Kīlauea’s summit caldera, as steady rates of earthquakes have persisted in this location since Aug. 22.

There were no notable swarms in the past day, and the volcano is not erupting. No unusual activity has been noted along the volcano’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone. The unrest is currently confined within Kīlauea’s summit region. If conditions continue, it could escalate to an eruption in the coming days, weeks, or months, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

No active lava has been observed at the caldera since June 19. A live-stream video of the inactive western lava lake area is available at https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live.

The activity — occurring at depths of 1–2 miles below the surface with no upward migration — could also drop due to intrusion of magma underground or other changes, resulting in no eruption. As a result, levels of activity are expected to fluctuate during this period of unrest.

Following a one-day period of deflation, summit tiltmeters began tracking steady inflation on Sept. 2, which continues at this time.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the seismic and tilt data indicate that Kīlauea’s summit is becoming increasingly pressurized. Similar episodes of earthquake and ground deformation activity occurred in November 2020 and August 2021, prior to eruptions in December 2020 and September 2021.

Since the end of the last eruption in June, the general trend has been slow, long-term summit inflation. Sulfur dioxide emissions from the summit remain low; the most recent SO2 emission rate of approximately 75 tonnes per day was measured on Aug. 24.

For information on Kīlauea hazards, see: https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/hazards.

See the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.