HVO reports increase in seismic activity at Kilauea

USGS photo by J. Barnett. An HVO geologist inspects a webcam at Kilauea summit on Dec. 3.
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The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is monitoring recent increases in seismic activity beneath Kilauea.

Between last Saturday and today, HVO has observed several “modest upticks” in seismicity between the volcano’s summit, ranging from one to several hours long.

Overall, more than 250 earthquakes have been detected beneath the summit, largely originating from between one and three miles underground.

Activity elsewhere on the volcano remains low, with seismicity along the upper and middle East Rift Zones not significantly changing. Sulfur dioxide emissions at the summit has also stayed around 70 metric tons per day, which generally indicates “noneruptive conditions.”

Although overall seismicity and ground inflation remains low, HVO is shifting the frequency of its Kilauea updates from weekly to daily beginning today.