Today’s Eruption Summary
In fact, the current lava eruptions in Puna are as hot as Hawaii’s lava will ever get. “It can’t get hotter than where we are,” Stovall added. “We are pretty much tapping mantle temperatures right now.”
Fissure 8 is beauty & the beast. Since Saturday it’s been pumping out a huge volume of lava, creating pahoehoe and even a’a flows that occasionally surge up to ~600yards/hour. Yesterday its main flow headed NE, skirted the geothermal plant, crossed and followed Hwy 132 for a while, and then started downslope past Noni Farms towards Four Corners, threatening to cut off Kapoho and Lower Puna.
In the early morning hours, officials went door-to-door in the Kapoho area ordering emergency evacuations. Newly-paved Beach Rd was pressed into service as a one-way evacuation route from Four Corners to Hawaiian Beaches. But it’s a race against time, as the lava is headed for that very road.
[ETA: Mick Kalber’s flyover. He’s always got notes on the video’s page.]
I saw no PGV news today, which is good. The summit produced yet more ash & earthquakes, one a pretty good thump (Mag 5.3 at 10:57am, no tsunami). Meanwhile, Fissure 18 is sending a channelized flow towards Hwy 137, just a little east of last week’s flows to the ocean:
10:11 PM HST May 30 Status Update: F8 fountaining continues, but Hwy 132 / Noni Farms flow front advance rate slow; F18 flow has spawned new lobe 1.5 miles above Hwy 137. Summit earthquake activity remains elevated.https://t.co/7sDZqcx8dU pic.twitter.com/BjVjJDy7jS
— USGS Volcanoes🌋 (@USGSVolcanoes) May 31, 2018