Heightened seismic activity seen at Hawaii- largest volcano on Earth

Kīlauea is the youngest and southeastern most volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. Topographically Kīlauea appears as only a bulge on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, and so for many years Kīlauea was thought to be a mere satellite of its giant neighbor, not a separate volcano. However, research over the past few decades shows clearly that Kīlauea has its own magma-plumbing system, extending to the surface from more than 60 km deep in the earth.

USGS February 4, 2011 report: The summit tiltmeter network recorded continued inflation with six brief deflation events coinciding with the high lava stands; each high stand/tilt event was a linear 0.1 microradian deflation followed by an abrupt inflation back to previous tilt levels. The network of GPS receivers recorded continued extension across the summit since the beginning of November, the most recent part of a long-term extension across the summit crater since early 2010; the extension seems to be fastest in the vicinity of Halema`uma`u Crater. An unusually high number of eighteen earthquakes were strong enough to be located within Kilauea volcano – three deep quakes immediately adjacent to the summit caldera (to the west, north, and east), two beneath the southern edge of the summit caldera, ten within the upper east rift zone (eight clustered beneath Koko`olau Crater including a preliminary magnitude-3.0 quake just before 2 am this morning), and three on south flank faults; the upper east rift zone seismicity continues to be a concern. –USGS