Lava surges with increased pressure from Kilauea, Hawaii

Kīlauea’s lava flows have surged in activity on the coastal plain accompanying inflation at the summit, though following by about 24 hours. This activity is farther from the ocean than before, relatively close to the base of the pali but moving quickly across cooling flows from the previous two months.

Lava activity on the coastal plain will decrease again about 24 hours after the next deflation event, which could start at any time if the current pattern holds. These cycles have had a period of 5-7 days in recent weeks, keeping lava flows active and accessible on the coastal plain, but varying their intensity from day to day.

Meanwhile, the summit GPS line is showing contraction over the past week, against the pervasive trend of the past two years. Previous contractions have related to sudden new phases of flank eruption such as at Kamoamoa in March 2011, or to more gradual movement of the volcano’s southern flank in what is called a “slow earthquake”, which can accomodate on the order of 1 meter of surface seaward movement within a 24 hour period! Such a signal could also indicate a decrease in magma supply, however other publicly available indicators don’t seem to agree with this.

Source: hawaii.volcanodiscovery.com