#Middle East rift zone

The middle East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea that began on Sunday, Sept. 15 has ended and is unlikely to restart, according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Kīlauea volcano continues to erupt in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park from the new fissure vent that opened just west of Nāpau Crater on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at around 3:15 p.m., according to a daily update from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. This is the fourth vent system of this eruption. The first fissures of this eruption occurred on the night of Sept. 15 on the middle East Rift Zone.

Earthquake activity has increased in Kīlauea’s middle East Rift Zone, near Makaopuhi Crater. Ground deformation patterns west (uprift) of Puʻuʻōʻō suggest that another intrusive event could be occurring in this region, but scientists with the Hawaiʻi Volcano Observatory say Kīlauea is not erupting at this time.

Elevated rates of ground deformation at Kīlauea Volcano’s middle East Rift Zone continue following the June 22–25 upper East Rift Zone intrusion within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Recent unrest has been restricted to Kīlauea’s upper and middle East Rift Zone within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park; no unusual activity has been noted east of Puʻuʻōʻō, along Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone, or in the Southwest Rift Zone at this time, the HVO reports.