More than 100 earthquakes have been detected beneath the summit of Mauna Loa over the past two days, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
HVO on Wednesday reported that 65 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3.0 and lower occurred over the previous 24 hours. Today, HVO reported an additional 53 quakes since then, bringing the 48-hour total to 118.
HVO still reports that there are no signs of an imminent eruption, and hypothesizes that the current seismic activity, which geologists are describing as a period of “heightened unrest,” is being driven by renewed input of magma about five miles below Mauna Loa’s summit.
Most of the quakes were detected beneath Mauna Loa’s northwest flank, which historically has been seismically active during previous periods of unrest.
Tiltmeters at Mauna Loa summit have not shown significant surface deformation over the past week. Concentrations of volcanic gases and fumarole temperatures remain stable on the mountain.
Activity at the volcano increased in mid-September when the rate of earthquakes jumped from 10 to 20 per day to 40 to 50 per day.