Several minor earthquakes rattled the Big Island this morning.
At about 9:40 a.m., a magnitude 3.7 quake originated from a point on Kilauea’s southern flank, about 0.6 miles below the ground. The tremor could be felt as far north as Hilo.
About three minutes later, a second quake — this one a magnitude 3.2 — began from an epicenter very near to the first one.
And according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, a magnitude 3.5 earthquake took place one minute after the second one, also originating from the same general area.
HVO reported this morning that there has been “minor seismic activity” around Kilauea recently: about 11 earthquakes were detected beneath the volcano’s summit and 38 beneath its upper East Rift Zone within the last 24 hours.
A series of more than 1,500 earthquakes beneath the upper East Rift Zone between July 22 to 25 represented an intrusion of magma between Pauahi Crater and Maunaulu. While that series has seemingly ended, additional seismic activity could occur with little or no warning.
Kilauea is still not erupting, HVO reports, and its volcano alert level is still set at “Advisory,” while the aviation color code remains at “Yellow.”