Quick Update - Kīlauea Remains Paused, Mauna Loa Alert Level Lowered
3:22 AM · Mar 18, 2023Tracker quick volcano update for the last week — Surface activity has remained paused over the past week on Kīlauea, however monitoring instruments detected a small intrusion of magma beneath the summit. Compared to recent intrusions in September 2022, August 2021, and December 2020, the March 11, 2023 event barely registered, but may be significant in revealing that magma did not easily return to the surface through recent pathways. For the first time, USGS scientists landed by helicopter on the central island that protrudes above the crusted crater floor, the same island that originally formed in the opening phase of the December 2020 eruption when lava vaporized the water pond that had collected in the post-2018 collapse pit. On Maunaloa, 3 months have passed since the end of the 2022 eruption, and accordingly the USGS has lowered the volcano's alert levels from Advisory/Yellow to Normal/Green. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JwIVoFsBbA