(BIVN) – Kīlauea is not erupting. The USGS Volcano Alert Level and Aviation Color Code remain at ADVISORY/YELLOW as of Wednesday morning.

Localized earthquake and ground deformation rates in Kīlauea’s upper East Rift Zone increased significantly this week, and on Tuesday prompted a brief alert level change to WATCH/ORANGE. Seismicity and ground deformation rates have since decreased but remain elevated. 

UPDATE – (9:25 a.m.) – Scientists say data suggests “magma may be slowly moving out of the summit storage region.”

“The pulsing nature of this activity may represent stages in intrusive activity beneath the upper East Rift Zone region,” the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory wrote on Tuesday. “Additional seismic pulses or swarms may occur with little or no warning and result in either continued intrusion of magma or eruption of lava.”

Due to the volcanic unrest, the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park has maintained the following closures:

• Chain of Craters Road from the intersection at Devastation parking lot to the coast.
• Kulanaokuaiki Campground is closed.
• Crater Rim Trail south of Nāhuku lava tube is closed.
• Coastal backcountry areas and Nāpau sites are closed. All new backcountry permits for those areas are canceled.
• Escape Road is closed from Nāhuku to Maunaulu.

On Tuesday, scientists recorded the highest number of earthquakes in one day since the last eruption on the Southwest Rift Zone.

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. (USGS graphs)

UPDATE – (9:29 a.m.) – From the USGS HVO update posted on Wednesday morning:

Summit and Upper East Rift Zone Observations: Over the past 24 hours, there were approximately 19 earthquakes detected beneath Kīlauea’s summit and approximately 384 earthquakes detected beneath the upper East Rift Zone, mostly at depths of 0–4 km (0.0–2.5 mi) below sea level. Most events were smaller than magnitude-2, but there were 5 earthquakes magnitude-3 or higher in the upper East Rift Zone. The largest event was a magnitude-3.4. Tiltmeters in Kīlauea summit region (instruments SDH, southwest of the summit, and UWE, northwest of the summit) started recording a deflationary trend over the past 24 hours, suggesting magma may be moving out of the summit storage region. The most recent measurement of the summit’s SO2 emission rate was approximately 65 tonnes per day yesterday on July 23, 2024.

The USGS HVO says it will continue to provide daily updates for Kīlauea volcano. “Should volcanic activity change significantly, a Volcanic Activity Notice will be issued,” scientists said.