Nearly 100 Earthquakes Shake Kilauea Volcano, Prompting Park Closures

Parts of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park were closed Thursday following a swarm of nearly 100 earthquakes beneath the summit of Kīlauea volcano.

The National Park Service announced the temporary closure of the Keanakākoʻi area, including Old Crater Rim Drive, overlooks near Keanakākoʻi Crater, and the Crater Rim Trail to Keanakākoʻi, citing safety concerns due to the heightened seismic activity and volcanic unrest. The Devastation Trail parking lot remains accessible.

According to the National Park Service, the majority of the seismic activity occurred between approximately 8 p.m. Wednesday and 3 a.m. Thursday. The largest recorded earthquake during this period measured a magnitude of 3.4 at 9:52 p.m. HST on Wednesday.

Since 3 a.m. Thursday, the park service noted that summit inflation has stabilized, and the rate of earthquake occurrences has decreased. An examination of webcam imagery from before and after the seismic event revealed no new ground cracking or lava eruptions in previously unaffected areas.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory indicated that a shallow intrusion of magma beneath the summit region, near the volcano's current eruption site, preceded the earthquake swarm. This event is expected to lead to the 55th episode of Kīlauea's ongoing eruption.

Recent observations from the volcano's vents show continued activity. Over the past 24 hours, the north vent has experienced several overflows, including a dome fountain and a longer overflow that lasted more than an hour on Wednesday afternoon. A strong glow, intermittent spatter, and large flames were observed from the north and south vents overnight, with the west vent also showing a glow and flames. No other areas have shown signs of volcanic activity.