A swarm of earthquakes and “inflation” recorded at the summit of the Kilauea volcano hint at a forthcoming eruption.
Over the weekend, the National Park Service announced it was closing sections of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on fears that the park’s famous active volcano could be about to erupt again.
NPS did not predict any imminent eruption. Rather, it warned on the park’s website and through NPS social media channels that “elevated seismic activity and inflation” recorded at Kilauea’s summit made it necessary to close off several areas of the park to the public out of an abundance of caution. Several popular hiking trails, a campground, the Puʻupuai Overlook, and the Old Crater Rim Drive are now off-limits to the public until further notice.
NPS says it’s working in tandem with the United States Geological Survey to monitor the volcano and assess the situation.
While several sections of the park are now closed visitors can still enter Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to enjoy other areas. However, NPS advises visitors to pay attention and be alert for any possible emergency notifications.
“Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is closely monitoring Kilauea in collaboration with our colleagues at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory,” NPS said in a release. “The park is currently open, but visitors should be prepared and stay informed.”
As of Monday, USGS said it had recorded about 270 earthquakes over the past two days and had Kilauea under a “yellow advisory” but clarified that the volcano was not erupting. The last eruption there occurred about a month ago, from September 10-16.
“Inflation at the summit of Kilauea remains at about its highest level in over 5 years and has nearly returned to the level seen just before the last eruption on September 10,” according to the USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory.
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Park Name:
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Location:
Hawaii, USA
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