Hawai'i Volcano Blog

A series of earthquake swarms began suddenly at Kīlauea’s summit on October 4, 2023.

While there is no sign of an imminent eruption, increased inflation and earthquake activity are expected to precede eruptive activity.

Known for his iconic beard and ponytail and affectionately called Dr. Jim by many, Kauahikaua joined the Big Island volcano observatory’s staff in 1988. He became scientist-in-charge, the first Native Hawaiian to serve in the position, in 2004 and served 10 years in the post until he stepped down in March 2015 and rotated back to his former position.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, an increase in earthquakes, from 23 per day on Monday, to 136 were recorded in the past 24 hours.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, there has been a dramatic drop in earthquakes, from a peak of over 250 per day last week, to only 23 recorded in the past 24 hours.

There’s been a dramatic decrease in earthquakes and summit tiltmeters also recorded a change in tilt magnitude and direction during the past several days.

The Uēkahuna summit tiltmeter north of the Big Island volcano’s caldera recorded a flat trend during the past 24 hours, with the Sand Hill tiltmeter just south of the caldera displaying the same.

The Great Hawaiʻi ShakeOut is an annual event for kamaʻāina and visitors alike to practice and prepare for when a large damaging earthquake hits the Hawaiian Islands.

According to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, an eruption of the Big Island volcano in the region from Halemaʻumaʻu crater south to the December 1974 vents could emerge with little notice.

Inflation at the summit of the Big Island volcano also remains at about its highest level in more than 5 years, returning to nearly the level seen just before the last eruption Sept. 10, which lasted less than a week.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, this episodic heightened unrest could lead to an eruption from the December 1974 vents during peaks in this current activity. The vents, located on the south end of the caldera and extending to the southwest, could emerge with as little notice as one to two hours.

Elevated seismicity beneath Kīlauea summit region began Oct. 4 18 days after an eruption, which lasted only six days.

Seismicity beneath the summit region, which began Oct. 4, also decreased with the change in deformation early Saturday morning and remained low as of about 9 a.m. Saturday.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported signs of elevated unrest beneath the summit region Wednesday. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

Kīlauea’s most recent eruption stopped on Sept. 16. This was the briefest of the five eruptions that have occurred at the summit of Kīlauea since 2020.  The eruption lasted about six days and, like the four eruptions before it, filled in a portion of the summit that collapsed in 2018.

Earthquake rates beneath the summit region increased overnight from less than 10 earthquakes per day to over 140 earthquakes in the last 24 hours.

The Kulanaokuaiki Tephra is part of the Uēkahuna Ash, and it has been best studied on the south flank of Kīlauea.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, it is unlikely that the recent eruption will resume based on the behavior of past, short-lived summit fissure eruptions at Kīlauea summit in 1982, 1975, 1974, and 1971, which all ended abruptly.

At least 5,000 visitors — and likely sometimes more — came each day of the eruption to see the volcanic activity from Sept. 10-16.

The people living in Puna and Hawai’i County understand the risk. Knowing they aren’t in control and can’t stop nature from happening is the first step to becoming resilient in the face of future volcanic eruptions on the Big Island.