Kaʻū News Briefs Aug. 9, 2024

Ballots Can be Cast 'til 7 p.m. in Nāʻālehu on Saturday PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOTS CAN BE DROPPED OFF AT NĀ'ĀLEHU POLICE STATION 24/7 UNTIL 7 P.M. AUG. 10, which is Election Day. Nāʻālehu Police Station is at 95-5355 Māmalahoa Hwy 11. The ballot drop box is outside the police staton. See voter guides in English, 'Ōlelo Hawaiian, Ilokano, Tagalog and Chinese at https://elections.hawaii.gov/.../2024-primary-election.../

GROUND DEFORMATION SHOWS STEADY INFLATION, ever since the July 22–25 pulses of strong seismicity and deformation indicated magma intruding into the upper East Rift Zone of Kīlauea. According to a report Thursday evening from USGS, more than 1,700 earthquakes occurred during this intrusion, along with changes in ground deformation patterns—Kīlauea’s summit region deflated as magma moved underground into the UERZ, where inflation indicated magma was accumulating near Pauahi Crater.  During the intrusion, some earthquakes were located in the upper Middle East Rift Zone (MERZ) past Maunaulu to Makaopuhi Crater. Beginning on July 23, ground deformation patterns in the MERZ began to show extension and uplift. Over the past week, extension and uplift has continued but the rates have slowed over time. In total, the area across Makaopuhi Crater has extended approximately 12.5 cm (5 inches) and uplifted about 7 cm (2.8 inches) since July 23. Starting on August 8, the POC tiltmeter located on the north flank of Puʻuʻōʻō in the middle East Rift Zone also began to showed movement consistent with the ongoing MERZ inflation. Ground deformation signals recorded by POC and nearby GPS stations indicate the center of deformation remains west of Puʻuʻōʻō.Earthquakes have also continued to occur in the UERZ and MERZ since the July 22–25 intrusion. In the UERZ, around 70 events have occurred per day on average, while in the MERZ, around 25 events have occurred per day on average. Most events have been smaller than magnitude-2 and located 2.5–3.5 km (1.5–2.2 miles) beneath the ground surface.
    At Kīlauea’s summit, earthquake activity has remained low following the UERZ intrusion, while ground deformation patterns have shown steady inflation since July 26.