The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that, starting just before 6 a.m. Sunday morning, a flurry of small earthquakes occurred on Kilauea Volcano’s upper East Rift Zone.
The earthquakes were concentrated about 3-4 miles southeast of Kilauea’s summit in an area between Hiiaka and Kookoolau Craters on Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The sequence consisted of 31 earthquakes over a period of about 42 minutes. The eight largest events had magnitudes ranging from 1.7-3.9 and depths of about 1-2 miles beneath the surface.
At least six of the earthquakes were felt on the Island of Hawaii, primarily in Ka’u and Puna. The U.S. Geological Survey “Did you feel it?” website (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/dyfi/) received more than 30 felt reports within an hour of the largest earthquake, which occurred at 6:13 a.m.
The size and location of this morning’s earthquake sequence suggest a source that may be related to the ongoing pressurized magma storage system beneath the Kilauea summit area. According to Tina Neal, HVO scientist-in-charge, the earthquakes caused no significant changes in Kilauea Volcano’s ongoing eruptions. No changes in deformation or ground surface cracks were observed.
For more information on recent earthquakes in Hawaii and Kilauea eruption updates, visit http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov.