map shows the location of the small earthquake swarm south of the Kīlauea caldera

(BIVN) – Kīlauea volcano is not erupting.

After a quiet few days at the summit, scientists with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported on Friday that a seismic swarm was recorded in the south caldera region, with 28 events over the past 24 hours.

There is currently no sign of an imminent eruption. Asiden from the swarm, low levels of seismicity continue in the Southwest Rift Zone, summit, and upper East Rift Zone. 13 events were observed in the upper East Rift Zone over the past 24 hours, with 24 events in the Southwest Rift Zone. No unusual activity has been noted along the middle and lower sections of Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone.

The USGS HVO continues to say “unrest may continue to wax and wane with changes to the input of magma into the area and eruptive activity could occur in the near future with little or no warning.”

From the USGS HVO:

Summit Observations:  Summit seismicity was slightly elevated, with a siesmic swarm in the south caldera region (28 events) over the past 24 hours.

The Uēkahuna summit tiltmeter, located northwest of the caldera, was overall flat over the past 24 hours. The Sand Hill tiltmeter, located southwest of the caldera, was slightly inflationary with a 1 microradian increase over the past 24 hours. Overall, the summit of Kīlauea remains at a high level of inflation, above the level reached prior to the most recent eruption in September 2023, and the highest level since the 2018 eruption.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rates remain low. Field observations found SO2 gas emmision of 100 tonnes per day on November 17. This is the same as an observation in October 2023.

There is currently no sign of an imminent eruption, and seismic activity continues at low levels at the summit, upper East Rift Zone, and Southwest Rift Zone. An increase in seismic unrest would be expected prior to any eruptive activity in this region. The onsets of previous summit eruptions have been marked by strong swarms of earthquakes caused by the emplacement of a dike 1-2 hours before eruptions and these have not been detected at this time.