June 2: Kapoho Isolated, Green Lake Evaporated

Today’s Eruption Summary:

After several days of anticipation, Fissure 8 arrived at last at Four Corners, the intersection of Highway 132 & 137. That gave local residents more time to retrieve their belongs before access to and from the Kapoho/Vacationland area was cut off.

USGS Caption: Northern edge of the fissure 8 flow front on the night of June 1, as it approached the intersection of Highways 132 and 137, known as “Four Corners.” (Full-sized)

Sadly, while people can evacuate, precious landmarks can’t. Today Green Lake seems to have gone the same way as the Queen’s Bath in Kalapana:

USGS Caption: “As fissure 8 lava flowed into Green Lake, the lake water boiled away, sending a white plume high into the sky—visible from afar between around 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. HST. This aerial photo, taken a couple of hours later by the Hawai‘i County Fire Department, shows still-steaming lava within Green Lake, located near the intersection of Highways 132 and 137.” (Full-sized)

Fissure 18 fell asleep before its flow could cross 137 again, but at this point, it hardly matters.

The summit was steaming with minimal ash today. However, news headlines claiming “crater falls quiet” may be greatly exaggerated. Time will tell.

USGS Morning Update

Jessica Ball (USGS/CVO) – Transcript

Summary: Fissure 18 dead or stalled, fissure 8 slightly dialed back (50m tall =164 ft) but continuing to feed channelized flow with occasional breakouts, ash emissions down at the summit. BUT “Continued summit deflation, earthquake activity and explosive events are still expected, and gas emissions remain high.”

This evening’s media conference call isn’t up yet (assuming they even had one over the weekend) so HVO’s social media team is out playing whack-a-mole with internet rumors.

Also, I missed this the other day, but on May 29, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory put out an explainer on “Why so many earthquakes in the Kilauea summit area?” They seem to have figured out why each major ash explosion seems to reverse summit deflation temporarily before it resumes.

USGS IMAGES OF THE DAY

Usually their images are fairly prosaic. Their taxpayer-funded job is to monitor the eruption, collect data, and inform civil defense and the public, not entertain us with pretty pictures.

But now that Mayor Harry Kim has cracked down on loiterers, sightseers and holdouts, they seem to be tossing us a few bones. That, or this was just a very photogenic (if sad) day.

USGS Caption: “Overnight (June 1-2), fissure 8 lava fountains decreased to heights of about 50 m (164 feet). The moon can be seen in the upper left.” (Full-sized)

Just look at that.

It took me a moment to realize this next photo isn’t just bits of moss and/or tiny ferns past the end of some cooling lava, but trees. That’s Highway 132 getting gobbled up by a broad a’a flow:

USGS Caption: “USGS scientists on HVO’s overflight this morning (June 2) captured this image of the fissure 8 flow front as it advanced west along Highway 132. Around the time of this photo, 7:15 a.m. HST, the flow front was approximately 100 yards west of the Hwy 132/137 intersection and advancing along a broad front over 300 yards in width extending both north and south of Highway 132.” (Full-sized)

And a couple shots of lumbering, inexorable a’a lava grinding forward.

USGS Caption: “East side of the fissure 8 flow on the “lighthouse road” (east of the Four Corners intersection). The ‘a‘ā flow was about 5 m (16 ft) thick when this photo was taken around 2:00 p.m. HST.” (Full-sized)
USGS Caption: “An HVO geologist documents the fissure 8 flow southeast of Four Corners (the intersection of Highways 132 and 137).” (Full-sized)

In a tweet warning that today’s fissure map was already out of date, @USGSVolcanoes included a pair of stunning images of the broad lava flow issuing from Fissure 8.

I think there may be one of the “levee breakouts” they’ve been warning about, cooling in the bottom center of this photo:

@USGSVolcanoes: “Fissure 8 – vigorous #lavafountain, wide channel, massive #lavaflows…”
From @USGSVolcanoes: “#Lava flow front is wide & moving through #Vacationland toward the coast.”
Mick Kalber Video/Images

Videographer Mick Kalber, who’s documented lava for decades,  posted a short blog entry on today’s overflight with labeled screencaps to clarify locations/details visible in the video.

USGS Civil Defense Messages

In yesterday’s 3PM press conference, civil defense admin Talmadge Magno gave a preview of what’s unfolding this morning:

Today’s announcements tracked the lava down 132 until it crossed Highway 137 a little before 9:30am, and before that making sure everyone in the Kapoho / Vacationland / Noni Farms area was evacuated.

6am |  9.30am | 1PM | 6PM

“There is no access to Kapoho, Vacationland, Highway 132, and Highway 137.”

GeologY/SCIENCE BLOGGERS
News Reports By Local Media

If you browse only one link tonight, see this:

Direct link to Facebook video/phonecall from Sen Kai Kahele:

USGS warned its fissure map today was out of date fairly early, due to the speed and wide coverage of fissure 8’s lava flow. BigIslandVideoNews put out a compilation of recent photo/video clips, noting the location of each on the most recent fissure map, which may be more useful until USGS has a chance to catch up.

Big story today was fissure 8 crossing Highway 137.

A Look Back

GeologyPage.com reminds us of this half-hour USGS documentary on the Kilauea Iki/Kapoho eruptions of 1959-1960. It’s fascinating to compare the current eruption with its predecessor. (Warning: cheesy Fantasia music, but the content’s good for all that):

Social Media Roundup

Lots of talk of Green Lake, Kapoho tidepools and other much-loved spots as fissure 8’s wide flow closed in.

From earlier today: The Instagram photos below are only the first in a batch/photoset. Click image and use arrows to view rest.

#BREAKING #LeilaniEstatesEruption #KilaueaVolcano UPDATE (June 2 at 10 AM): The Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency confirms the flow front from fissure 8 has crossed Highway 137, south of Four Corners. “Due to lava crossing Highway 137, Kapoho-Pohoiki Road, the following policies are in effect: *There is NO ACCESS to Kapoho, Vacationland, Highway 132, and Highway 137. *Government Beach Road, between Kahakai Boulevard and Cinder Road, is open to Waʻa Waʻa and Papaya Farms Road residents only with official credentials. There is no curfew. Shelters at Pāhoa Community Center and Keaʻau Armory are open and pet friendly.” According to geologists with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, vigorous lava eruptions continue throughout the lower East Rift Zone in #LeilaniEstates and #LanipunaGardens. Fissure 8 is feeding a large flow advancing on a broad front (about 300 yards wide) that is traveling along Highway 132, the Pahoa-Kapoho Road. There are small breakouts along the flow channel. Stay tuned to @HawaiiNewsNow for the very latest developments #HInews #HawaiiNews #HNN #HawaiiNewsNow #WeAreYourSource

A post shared by Mileka Lincoln (@milekalincoln) on

20180602 @ 10:00-11:00 HST – National Guard tour in Leilani Estates . Heavy gas, smoke, particulate, reticulate and cinder continue to inundate surrounding areas near Fissure 8 in Leilani Estates. Major Hickman and his team transported us to the intersection of Moku Street and Leilani Avenue to view the massive formations of pahoehoe flows on Nohea Street at a distance. Small, thin slivers of shiny pahoehoe still continued to travel north heading toward Highway 132/137 junction and Kapoho Cone. Fissure 8’s massive production of lava has now intruded into the northern flank of Kapoho Cone, generating a voluminous plume of steam, gas, and particulate seen clearly at a distance. A visit to the intersection of Highway 132 and Pohoiki Road (“Y” Junction) revealed an astonishing perspective of flow heights ranging from 10-20ft extending through both roads. Impassable would be an understatement. . I really appreciated how well orchestrated the Army National Guard media tour was put together. This allows press and media outlets to obtain great, supervised footage without trespassing. A win-win thanks to Major Hickman. . For accurate eruption updates, please visit: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/status.html . All areas that I have documented throughout this eruptive series have been through approved with legal access. Please kokua and do not attempt to trespass in areas unless official approval has been granted. The majority of my efforts are without pay and all expenses are out of pocket. The content shared is being shared without cost to our local news networks for community awareness and support. Some footage does help to pay a very small portion of my expenses. . Many areas are now inaccessible and the majority are dangerous due to volcanic hazards. . My respect and best wishes go out to the neighborhood of Leilani Estates, Lanipuna Gardens, and the areas within and between Kapoho. My heart especially goes out to all of my friends who have lost their homes in this fissure eruption. I am at a loss for words. _____ #leilaniestates #eruption #bigisland #helicopter #hawaii #aerial #volcano #lanipunagardens @hawaiitribuneherald @hawaiinewsnow @natgeo

A post shared by Andrew Richard Hara (@andrewrichardhara) on

#LeilaniEstatesEruption #KilaueaVolcano UPDATE (June 2 at 6 PM): We just received these photos taken by Aloha Skies Aviation over the Green Lake area earlier today, sometime after 10 AM. We’re releasing them in hopes they will help to provide some information and guidance to those residents who live in the area — many of whom have reached out to us requesting that we post more aerial footage as soon as we’re able to. According to Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency, Hawaiʻi County Fire has flown over the area and believes some homes were overrun by lava in the Green Lake area. However, gas emissions obscured the aerial footage from the fire chopper, so it’s unclear how many or exactly where. We are waiting for the latest update from Civil Defense Agency officials on where the leading edge of the flow front is now. USGS HVO geologists say fissure 8 is feeding a large channelized flow traveling along Highway 132, the Pāhoa-Kapoho Road, with two flow fronts. The northern flow front is above Four Corners, near the intersection. The southern flow front crossed Highway 137, Kalapana-Kapoho Road, 300 feet south of the Four Corners intersection. The flow is moving downslope toward the ocean. According to Civil Defense: “Due to lava crossing Highway 137, Kapoho-Pohoiki Road, the following policies are in effect: *There is NO ACCESS to Kapoho, Vacationland, Highway 132, and Highway 137. *Government Beach Road, between Kahakai Boulevard and Cinder Road, is open to Waʻa Waʻa and Papaya Farms Road residents only with official credentials. Placards are required to access Government Beach Road between Kahakai Blvd. & Cinder Rd. There is no curfew. Shelters at Pāhoa Community Center and Keaʻau Armory are open and pet friendly.” Stay tuned to @HawaiiNewsNow for the very latest developments #HInews #HawaiiNews #HNN #HawaiiNewsNow #WeAreYourSource (Video: Aloha Skies Aviation)

A post shared by Mileka Lincoln (@milekalincoln) on

#LeilaniEstatesEruption #KilaueaVolcano UPDATE (June 2 at 7:30 PM): I just received these photos taken by Hawaiʻi Island Senator Kai Kahele who is currently flying over the lower East Rift Zone. This view is taken from Hilo side looking out at lower coastal Puna, where you can see the fountain from fissure 8 and the large, fast-moving lava flow that inundated the Four Corners intersection at Highway 132 and Highway 137 and is moving downslope toward the ocean into Kapoho Beach Lot — according to Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency officials. We’re releasing these images in hopes they will help to provide some information and guidance to those residents who live in the area — many of whom have reached out to us requesting that we post more aerial footage as soon as we’re able to. According to Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency, Hawaiʻi County Fire has flown over the area and believes some homes were overrun by lava in the Green Lake area. However, gas emissions obscured the aerial footage from the fire chopper, so it’s unclear how many or exactly where. USGS HVO geologists say fissure 8 is feeding a large channelized flow traveling along Highway 132, the Pāhoa-Kapoho Road, with two flow fronts. The northern flow front is above Four Corners, near the intersection. The southern flow front crossed Highway 137, Kalapana-Kapoho Road, 300 feet south of the Four Corners intersection. The flow is moving downslope toward the ocean. According to Civil Defense: “Due to lava crossing Highway 137, Kapoho-Pohoiki Road, the following policies are in effect: *There is NO ACCESS to Kapoho, Vacationland, Highway 132, and Highway 137. *Government Beach Road, between Kahakai Boulevard and Cinder Road, is open to Waʻa Waʻa and Papaya Farms Road residents only with official credentials. Placards are required to access Government Beach Road between Kahakai Blvd. & Cinder Rd. There is no curfew. Shelters at Pāhoa Community Center and Keaʻau Armory are open and pet friendly.” Stay tuned to @HawaiiNewsNow for the very latest developments #HInews #HawaiiNews #HNN #HawaiiNewsNow #WeAreYourSource (Photos: @kaialiikahele)

A post shared by Mileka Lincoln (@milekalincoln) on

Just a reminder that people have a choice to stay and risk their lives (and those of first responders), but animals are at the mercy of our choices:

speaking of animals…a carrier pigeon, eh? *cough*

And some more amazing imagery.

Below is why I’ve been scouring local Hawaiian news reports. Because mainstream media is STILL pulling this kind of *bleep*.