(BIVN) – Kīlauea volcano is not erupting, and the elevated seismicity south of the summit caldera that was reported on Saturday morning has since decreased.

The USGS Volcano Alert Level remains at ADVISORY. Over the past 24 hours, low levels of seismicity continued in the Southwest Rift Zone (25 events), summit (17 events), and upper East Rift Zone (37 events).

No unusual activity has been noted along the middle and lower sections of Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone.

From the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Sunday, December 3rd:

Summit Observations:  Summit seismicity was slightly elevated over the past 24 hours (17 events), but has decreased compared to activity early on December 2. Minor small earthquakes continued to occur in the upper East Rift Zone during this period. 

The Uēkahuna summit tiltmeter, located northwest of the caldera, recorded deflation of 3 microradians over the past 24 hours. The Sand Hill tiltmeter, located southwest of the caldera, shows a similar pattern to that of UWE 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 emission 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, but the summit region remains unsettled with seismic activity continuing at low levels at the summit, upper East Rift Zone, and Southwest Rift Zone. 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.

Inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, the Mauna Iki Trail and the Kaʻū Desert Trail – south of the Footprints exhibit to the Mauna Iki Trail intersection – are closed due to the volcanic unrest in the Southwest Rift Zone.