Abstract
The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano included caldera collapse at the
summit of the volcano that was well recorded by a network of both
permanent and temporary seismometers and infrasound microphones.
Volcanic activity prior to the start of the eruption was elevated,
including high lava lake levels and increased seismicity. Deflation of
the summit began shortly after the eruption in the lower East Rift Zone
commenced and was accompanied by a drop in the summit lava lake, which
eventually disappeared from view after lowering by several hundred
meters. Continued volume loss from beneath the summit eventually led to
caldera collapse, which was accompanied by increases in earthquake rates
and tremor amplitudes. Infrasonic tremor that originally rose from
spattering at the surface of the lava lake was replaced by discrete
infrasonic events arising from rockfalls and slumps. On May 16, the
first of tens of collapse events occurred, beginning a cycle of
increasing earthquake rates and energy release in the presence of
deflation. After an initial increase in rate, seismicity rates remained
constant for several hours prior to the next collapse event. Earthquakes
during these events were typically part of repeating earthquake families
and occurred on one of several circumferential cracks that marked active
collapsing blocks. Through time, earthquake activity has mirrored the
morphology of the collapse, migrating primarily north and east as
caldera down drop extended in those directions. Collapse-related
infrasound arrivals were initially down, suggesting downdropping of the
surface, followed several seconds later by higher frequency infrasound,
which we interpret to reflect the explosive or expulsion phase reaching
the surface. Infrasound signals were 2-3 times more energetic below 0.5
Hz than above. Especially after May 29, when caldera collapse became
much larger in surface area, infrasound signals were highly repetitive
with a strong downward first motion. The collapse events were also
deficient at seismic frequencies > 0.5 Hz, compared to
typical tectonic earthquake sources. Despite similarities in waveforms
at low frequencies (<0.1 Hz) and in infrasound, the seismic
waveforms at high frequencies were not similar, reflecting either a
unique source in each collapse event or a change in location.