Today’s Eruption Summary
The eruption continues as usual, although lava levels “in the more distant portions of the channel system” are down somewhat. Nevertheless, an afternoon surge after today’s summit collapse caused an overflow and brushfire in an undeveloped area north of the channel, according to Civil Defense.
Today’s summit collapse came at 11:55 am HST, energy equivalent of an M 5.4. Once again there was a cluster of high M3 foreshocks in the ten minutes or so beforehand, so that there was already some suspended dust from rockfalls.
Northeast Rim livestream cam was stuttering today, but still dramatic.
Also note that HVO’s Fissure 8 webcam was damaged by a brushfire Tuesday and ceased working. In fact, right now it’s stuck on the last photo it took.
While checking on the main webcams page, I caught a lovely time of the evening up at the summit. From the ones that are working:
And speaking of photos, I took a night off, and come back to find HVO posted a ton of good photos! Which I shall mirror here so they’re easier to find after they’ve “fallen off” that Photo & Chronology page.
Most importantly, a new frame from the Cosmo-Skymed satellite radar animation:
Accompanying text with this animation: “Over time, expansion of the summit eruptive vent within Halema‘uma‘u crater and the widening of Halema‘uma‘u itself are obvious. Starting in late May, the development of several cracks outside Halema‘uma‘u is clear, and inward slumping of a large portion of the western, southwestern, and northern crater rim begins. Much of this motion appears to be coincident with the small explosions from the summit that have taken place on a near daily basis since early June. The most recent radar scene, from August 1, shows continued motion along cracks over a broader area of the caldera floor, extending east of Halema‘uma‘u. We expect this slumping to continue as long as the collapse events and overall subsidence persist.”