(BIVN) – Kīlauea volcano is not erupting, low levels of seismicity continue in the Southwest Rift Zone, summit, and upper East Rift Zone. Earthquakes are down from the seismic swarm observed on Saturday morning, south of the summit caldera.

The USGS Volcano Alert Level remains at ADVISORY.

Over the past 24 hours, there was only one seismic event recorded at the summit. 16 events were measured on the upper East Rift Zone, and 12 events were recorded in the Southwest Rift Zone. No unusual activity has been noted along the middle and lower sections of Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone.

Kīlauea is relatively quiet at the moment, but scientists with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory 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 Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Monday, December 4th:

Summit Observations:  Summit seismicity was low over the past 24 hours (1 event). Minor small earthquakes (16 events) continued to occur in the upper East Rift Zone during this period. 

The Uēkahuna summit tiltmeter, located northwest of the caldera, recorded deflation of 2 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.