(BIVN) – Kīlauea is not erupting, and volcanic unrest continues beneath the upper East Rift Zone and the summit caldera south of Halemaʻumaʻu.

The current USGS Volcano Alert Level for Kīlauea remains at ADVISORY.

There are no current closures within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park due to the unrest.

From the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory update on Thursday, May 9th:

Summit and upper East Rift Zone Observations: Earthquake counts remain elevated with approximately 190 earthquakes in the past 24 hours, a decrease over the preceding day. These earthquakes are clustered in the upper East Rift Zone as well as the south caldera region. Earthquake depths have averaged 2-4 km (1.2-3.1 miles) beneath the surface, and magnitudes have been mostly below M2.0.

From USGS: Earthquake Rates and Depths on Thursday evening. Above Top: Number of earthquakes per day during the past week (blue bars). The red line is the cumulative moment (energy) release. Bottom: Depth of earthquakes during the past week in the area shown on the map above. Depth is reported relative to sea level, which is equal to a depth of zero on the above plot. On both figures, circle-size represents magnitude, and color indicates depth.

Ground deformation continues beneath Halemaʻumaʻu and the south caldera region. The Uēkahuna tiltmeter continues to record inflation beneath Halemaʻumaʻu that began early Saturday morning. The tiltmeter at Sandhill continues to record steady inflationary tilt in the south caldera region.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas emission rates remain low. An SO2 emission rate of approximately 62 tonnes per day was recorded on May 2.

Rift Zone Observations: Elevated seismic activity on the East Rift Zone is confined to the upper East Rift Zone, with no significant earthquakes occurring past the Pauahi Crater. At this time, seismicity in Kīlauea’s Southwest Rift Zone remains relatively low outside of the summit region. Measurements from continuous gas monitoring stations downwind of Puʻuʻōʻō in the middle East Rift Zone—the site of 1983–2018 eruptive activity—continue to be below detection limits for SO2, indicating that SO2 emissions from Puʻuʻōʻō are negligible.

Analysis: Magma continues to pressurize the system beneath Halemaʻumaʻu and the south caldera region, activating seismicity along faults in the upper East Rift Zone. At this time, it is not possible to say whether this increase in activity will lead to an intrusion or eruption in the near future or simply continue as seismic unrest at depth. Changes in the character and location of unrest can occur quickly, as can the potential for eruption.