Kilauea Volcano’s summit continues to flip-flop between deflation, inflation

Kilauea Volcano’s summit continues to flip-flop between deflation and inflation, the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported Friday.

Summit tiltmeters used to measure tiny changes in the “tile” or angle of the ground began recording inflation around 3 p.m. Thursday that continued Friday morning. The switch to inflation followed about 24 hours of deflation at the summit that began about noon Wednesday, scientists said.

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.

Amid the change to inflation, the lava lake level within the Overlook vent on Halemaumau Crater’s floor rose to within 148 feet of the vent’s rim, scientists said, adding that the lake on Thursday was within about 161 feet of the rim. Scientists said that the lava lake continues to circulate and occasionally spatter producing a gas plume visible during the day and a glow visible at night.

Meanwhile, seismicity rates beneath the summit and upper East Rift Zone have been at normal, background levels for the past day.

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