Kilauea Volcano’s summit on Monday was showing signs of deflation, the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports.
Kilauea Volcano’s summit on Monday was showing signs of deflation, the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports.
The observatory said its tiltmeters, which are used to measure tiny changes in the slope angle or “tilt” of the ground, at the summit began recording deflationary tilt Friday. The tilt continued Monday morning at a lower rate.
During inflation, magma rises into the summit reservoir, according to the observatory. The summit reservoir enters the deflation portion of the cycle when the magma moves laterally into a rift zone, and either erupts or is stored there.
In addition, seismic tremor continues at the summit with episodic bursts associated with spattering within the Overlook vent. The lava lake was about 144 feet below the floor of Halemaumau as of Friday.
Seismicity rates beneath upper East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone have also been at normal, background levels for the past day.
The tiltmeter on the north flank of Puu Oo continued to show no significant change in tilt as of Monday morning.
Breakouts along the June 27 lava flow remained active within about 4.3 miles of Puu Oo, scientists said.
The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on March 25 downgraded its alert level for Kilauea Volcano from a “warning” to a “watch.”