Activity at the volcano has been at a significantly heightened level overnight, with the swarm of volcano-tectonic earthquakes continuing and intensifying since late last night.
The volcano-tectonic earthquake swarm comprises two different sets of events, one set of higher amplitude, shallower events similar to those encountered over the past week, and a second set of somewhat lower amplitude, deeper events (at about 2.5 to 4 km depth). The rate of occurrence of events is about one every 2 minutes.
The level of concern of the scientific team at MVO has increased significantly overnight, and an increase of the alert level to ORANGE has been advised with immediate effect. The scientists cannot be sure that the current earthquake swarm will lead to potentially dangerous volcanic explosions. We advise that it may be some days to weeks before the alert level can move down again if the current activity continues, even without any explosive activity.