Alarm level 1 has been issued for the volcano, as there are signs that a new eruption is likely going to happen in the very near future.
A seismic crisis started under the volcano at 4:33 a.m. this morning, including hundreds of earthquakes, which are characteristic of rapid magma ascent.
So far, the volcano observatory (OVPF) has recorded 627 volcano-tectonic and 176 long-period earthquakes, concentrated under the northeast of the caldera, near the Piton de Crac cone. The quakes are very shallow, at depths between 1.2 km below sea level and 0.6 km above sea level. While magma still might stagnate and remain an underground intrusion, it is more likely that there will be an eruption within hours.
OVPF wrote that it cannot be ruled out that a fissure opens at low elevation; the longer the seismic crisis lasts, the more likely such a scenario will be.
The last eruption of Piton de la Fournaise, which typically erupts every few months, occurred in April 2021.