(BIVN) – Mauna Loa Road inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park reopened to vehicles on Monday, October 8. The Mauna Loa Trail, the 13,677-foot volcano summit and both high-altitude cabins also reopened.

The areas have been closed since May 11 due to damaging volcanic and seismic activity at Kīlauea, which – as of this moment – has subsided.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says it continues to monitor both Mauna Loa and Kīlauea Volcano closely.

Earthquake activity at Mauna Loa remained at low levels in September, with scattered shallow events located in the summit region and upper Southwest Rift Zone, and a cluster of earthquakes located on the northwest flank of the volcano. Scientists say these latter earthquakes started in late September in an area that has been intermittently active during the past few years. In September, the largest earthquake was a magnitude-3.4 quake (September 30).

On October 8, a Magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded in the same area.

There was no significant change in deformation across Mauna Loa during the last month, the USGS reported.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory provides this background: