Summit lava lake level remains near rim of Overlook Crater (+video)

The summit lava lake remains close to the rim of the Overlook Crater but has not spilled onto the floor of Halemaumau Crater during the past day, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory report Monday.

However, the lake was measured at roughly 3 yards above the original (pre-overflow) floor of Halemaumau Crater on Sunday afternoon, scientists said. The recent overflows have accumulated and built the rim of the Overlook Crater several yards above the original floor of Halemaumau Crater.

Also Sunday, about 1:20 p.m., a collapse of a portion of the wall of Halemaumau Crater impacted the lake and triggered a small explosive event, which deposited fist-sized clasts around the rim of Halemaumau Crater.

Seismicity remains elevated beneath Kilauea’s summit and upper East and Southwest Rift Zones. A magnitude-3.6 earthquake in the upper East Rift Zone occurred Monday morning at 4:42 a.m. and was felt in the Volcano Village area.

The tiltmeter, which is used to measure tiny changes in the slope angle or “tilt” of the ground, on the north flank of Puu Oo recorded during the past 24 hours weak inflation.

Scientists, who continue to use webcams to observe the flow, said breakouts along the June 27 lava flow remain active within 5 miles of Puu Oo.

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

The current lava activity at the summit comes amid a period of inflation at Kilauea, which began abruptly on April 21. On Monday morning, the volcano continued to inflate. 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.