Kilauea Volcano summit, East Rift Zone eruptions continue

Kilauea Volcano continues to erupt at its summit and from its East Rift Zone, the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said Wednesday.

As of Tuesday evening, the summit lava lake was about 177 feet below the floor of Halemaumau, scientists said, adding that seismic episodic bursts associated with spattering within the vent continued. Earlier Tuesday, the lake was about 239 feet below the crater floor.

The lava lake has dropped, as well as fluctuated, substantially in recent weeks. Lava had overflowed the crater rim periodically between April 21 and May 10 amid a period of increased activity at the summit of Kilauea Volcano that drew thousands to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to view.

The summit tiltmeter recorded continues to record inflationary tilt that began at noon Monday. 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.

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 Wednesday morning.

Breakouts along the June 27 lava flow remained active within about 5 miles of Puu Oo, scientists said Wednesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on March 25 downgraded its alert level for Kilauea Volcano from a “warning” to a “watch.”