By Tim Bryan, field report courtesy Liegh Hilbert

Big Island Video News is keeping an eye on the USGS reports detailing the ongoing seismicity within the upper east rift zone that geologists say “continues to be a concern”.

The language has appeared in consecutive daily eruption updates published by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Of the twenty-three earthquakes that were strong enough to be located within Kilauea volcano – eighteen were located within the upper east rift zone.

This includes a 3.8 magnitude jolt that rocked the Volcano area around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. The quake was centered 3 miles southeast of the active Kilauea summit. It was felt in numerous Volcano area subdivisions.

Less than 24 hours earlier, a 3.2 magnitude temblor shook the region… this time only 2 miles south of the summit.

Geologists have not ventured a guess as to what the increased seismicity could portend, nor do the scientists correlate the quakes to any specific volcanic activity, like the lava lake that continually rises and falls at the Halemaumau crater.

In today’s report, published after this video was produced, HVO reports:

Forty-two earthquakes were strong enough to be located within Kilauea volcano – thirty-six were located within the upper east rift zone (most occurred between 8 and 11 am, were located between Puhimau and Pauahi Craters, and included a magnitude-3.8 quake at 8:30 am yesterday), four on south flank faults, and two immediately south and southwest of the summit caldera; measurements made yesterday on monitored cracks in the epicentral area showed no unusual movement; the ongoing seismicity within the upper east rift zone continues to be a concern.

For whats been going on further down the rift, we go to Liegh Hilbert, who files this field report at the ever changing Kalapana lava flow.