Earthquake & Volcano Monitor — 2026-05-02
A magnitude 5.1 deep-focus earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands early on May 2, while seismologists are forecasting Kīlauea's next lava fountaining episode for the coming week. Mayon Volcano in the Philippines continues active lava effusion along multiple gullies, and Kīlauea's summit eruption remains paused at Yellow/Advisory alert level pending the next eruptive episode.
Earthquake & Volcano Monitor — 2026-05-02
Seismic Activity
Fiji Islands Deep-Focus Earthquake (May 2, 2026) A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck south of the Fiji Islands at 02:06 UTC on May 2, 2026. At a depth of 532.8 km, this places it firmly in the deep-focus category — the deepest recorded in recent tracking datasets. Deep-focus earthquakes at this depth occur in subducting slabs and rarely produce surface damage.
Nevada Minor Quake A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded near Silver Springs, Nevada, at 00:04 UTC on May 2, with a depth of 9 km and epicenter at 39.309, -119.069 (approximately 17 km from Silver Springs).
Volcanic Watch
Kīlauea — Hawaii (YELLOW/ADVISORY) As of May 1, 2026 at 18:53 UTC, the eruption at Kīlauea's summit is currently paused. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has updated its forecast window: Episode 46 is expected between May 5–9, 2026, based on data from summit tiltmeters tracking the return of inflationary ground deformation. The Aviation Color Code remains YELLOW.
A separate report from harianbasis.co (published ~12 hours ago) notes that USGS scientists are actively monitoring increased earthquake activity at Kīlauea's summit as they forecast the next lava fountaining episode for early May 2026.
Mayon Volcano — Philippines (Active) The May 1, 2026 Volcano News roundup confirms Mayon Volcano continues active lava effusion with lava flows on the Basud (3.8 km), Bonga (3.2 km), and Mi-isi (1.6 km) gullies, along with episodic minor Strombolian activity and short-lived lava fountaining. Weekly updates from monitoring agencies including USGS-AVO, USGS-CVO, USGS-NMI, KVERT, and JMA were also compiled in the same report. Additionally, another lahar was reported at Reventador volcano and constant degassing continues at Santiaguito.
Earth Science
Global Volcanic Activity Context According to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, approximately 40 volcanoes had continuing eruptions as of the most recent reporting period, with roughly 20 actively erupting on any given day worldwide.
Kīlauea Episodic Eruption Pattern The ongoing episodic eruption at Kīlauea's summit — now approaching its 46th episode — illustrates how modern volcano monitoring tools (tiltmeters, seismographs, GPS deformation networks) now allow scientists to forecast eruption windows days in advance. The May 5–9 forecast window for Episode 46 is based primarily on tilt data showing the rate of magma recharge beneath the summit crater. When ground inflation reaches a threshold consistent with prior episodes, scientists can issue probabilistic timing windows — a significant improvement in hazard communication for residents and aviation planning.
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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