Category: Information

September 9: Leilani Estates Residents Return; MacKenzie Beaches Reopen

Septeber 6, 2018. USGS: “Incandescence from fissure 8 was noted a couple of times overnight, but no spattering or glow was visible during the Unmanned Aircraft Systems overflight around 8:00 a.m. this morning, as shown here. Lava within the fissure 8 crater looked much the same as yesterday, except that the new cone appeared less prominent. Steam in background is due to recent rainfall.” (Full-sized)
This Week’s Eruption Summary

There’s been spots of incandescence, fuming, and small lava flows within the Fissure 8 cone for the past week, a few of which have oozed into the spillway, but eruptive activity remains confined to the cone. These have partly filled in the crater’s deep pit.

Earlier this week there was a sputtery little mini-cone building on the floor of the Fissure 8 cone.

It looks like the USGS is now using drone overflights instead of morning helicopter rides, which is probably a relief to residents living just outside the evacuation zone.

September 3, 2018. USGS: “Another UAS image captured early this morning looks directly down into the fissure 8 cone. The new lava is lighter in color compared to the older, darker lava farther down the spillway [above].” (Full-sized)
On Saturday, Pu’u O’o underwent some minor collapses throughout the day, sending up intermittent plumes of brown dust. Local tilt/seismicity sensors registered small changes, but these were not reflected further downrift.

However, starting Thursday September 6, tiltmeters in the mid East Rift Zone have registered minor amounts of inflation. “The current rates [of inflation] are much smaller than those measured during the period of major eruptive activity and are not changing rapidly.” —HVO Thursday status report

Sulfur dioxide emissions remain lower than at any time since 2007, including those at LERZ vents which are now so low as to be barely detectable.

And yeah, there’s another small hurricane headed for Hawai’i. It’s very unusual for one to make landfall on any of the islands instead of just brushing past offshore, but Olivia looks set to cross the island chain.

September 6 Video from Mick Kalber

At 6AM The LERZ was cloudy and steamy, but there’s some great views down into Pu’u O’o Crater. Be sure to check out timestamp 2:00; clear view of Halema’uma’u and summit in the distance. Notes/observations on lava update blog.

Bruce Omori also posted observations and 6 photos from this flight on his Facebook, including these lovely views of dawn-golden Kilauea Caldera from afar:

Thursday, Sep 6, 2018, 6:00 am – Kilauea's lower east rift zone overflight: Kīlauea, overshadowed by Mauna Loa.

Posted by Extreme Exposure Fine Art Gallery on Thursday, September 6, 2018

Thursday, Sep 6, 2018, 6:00 am – Kilauea's lower east rift zone overflight: A spectacular view of Halema‘uma‘u, with Kīlauea Iki in the foreground.

Posted by Extreme Exposure Fine Art Gallery on Thursday, September 6, 2018

Continue reading September 9: Leilani Estates Residents Return; MacKenzie Beaches Reopen

September 2: A Few Signs of Life Deep in Fissure 8

 

Saturday, Sep 1, 2018, 6:00 pm – Kilauea's lower east rift zone overflight: Another angle of fissure 8, with a small lava pond within.

Posted by Extreme Exposure Fine Art Gallery on Sunday, September 2, 2018

This Week’s Eruption Summary

While no glow or incandescence was reported within Fissure 8’s cone for most of the week, Saturday 9/1 showed a few life signs remain in the LERZ: weak spattering from one spot, and in the evening new lava came out to cover most of the crater floor. But its sides have been slumping and falling in, as have the levees of the now solidified lava channel. While Fissure 8 and some of the surrounding vents continue to steam and fume, SO2 emissions remain low there and at the summit.

August 30, 2018. USGS: “The fissure 8 lava channel (center) and levee (foreground), looking toward the northwest. Loose rubble and Pele’s hair (lower right) are strewn across the levee surface.” (Full-sized)

No active ocean entries have been seen for the past few days, suggesting that all the residual lava from Fissure 8 has stagnated or drained out.

August 30, 2018. USGS: “Lower East Rift Zone lava flows entering the ocean have built a lava delta over 875 acres in size, but no active ocean entries were observed by HVO geologists on this morning’s overflight. View to the southwest.” (Full-sized)

This week has been a time of repair and taking stock. USGS geologists have been replacing lost or damaged monitoring stations (including the UWE tiltmeter, back on HVO’s deformation page). The drone crews have been out after Hurricane Lane came through to take new detailed aerial surveys of Kilauea’s summit (August 30 video) and Fissure 8 (August 21 video).

Screencap from August 30, 2018 UAV video survey of Kilauea summit.

They also posted an updated timelapse video of HVO’s panorama cam of Halema’uma’u from April 14 through August 20:

This week’s Volcano Watch newsletter from HVO describes how “Scientific community lends a hand to measure Kīlauea’s changing shape.” This eruption required all hands on deck and every last scrap of equipment they had, and then some.

Another screencap from the August 30 drone survey of Halema’uma’u Crater and its surroundings. Piece of Crater Rim Drive a long way down in the crater.More photos after the cut, plus some notes on the park’s status.

Continue reading September 2: A Few Signs of Life Deep in Fissure 8

August 27: After Fire, Flood (Hurricane Lane)

August 22, 2018. USGS: “Parts of Kīlauea’s caldera floor are now a jumble of down-dropped blocks and surface cracks. HVO field crews carefully hiked along Crater Rim Drive yesterday to verify the locations of USGS benchmarks (lower left), which will be used for additional geophysical work that will help document the recent summit changes. The view is to the northwest with one flank of Mauna Loa visible in the distance (upper right).” (Full-sized)
Weekly Eruption Summary

After a busy few months, Kilauea continues to rest with only a pilot light on, so to speak. This week’s big news was that Hurricane Lane passed offshore of the Big Island on Thursday through Saturday, causing extensive flash flooding. But there’s still a little news to report on the dying (?) embers of Kilauea’s 2018 eruption.

On Friday morning, the Hawaii County Fire Department observed a small lava pond still visible deep in Fissure 8’s cone. For most of the week, there was no visible activity apart from a few small jets deep in the cone throwing weak spatter on Monday morning:

August 20, 2018. USGS: “This morning, USGS scientists flying over fissure 8 noticed a change in the vent from yesterday. Gas jets were throwing spatter—fragments of glassy lava (light gray deposits)—from small incandescent areas deep within the cone. This activity is an indication that the lower East Rift Zone eruption may be paused rather than pau (over).” (Full-sized)

The sputtery jets proved to be temporary:

August 21, 2018. USGS: “Southward facing aerial view of the fissure 8 cone. The two small areas of incandescence, gas jetting, and spatter from yesterday photograph appeared crusted over today.” (Full-sized)

Down at the ocean at Kapoho, there were a few weak dribbles of lava continuing to drain out of the delta at the beginning of the week:

August 20, 2018. USGS photo of residual lava entering ocean, posted on their facebook page here.

Sulfur dioxide emissions continue to be very low both at the summit and the coast. In fact, on Tuesday, they dropped too low in the Lower East Rift Zone for instruments to measure, although not too low for highly-sensitive human noses to detect.

Video from August 17 posted on the 20th— full-sized version here.

Heavy rain from Hurricane Lane on Friday and Saturday put a hold on USGS overflights and field observations and knocked out a few sensors on the east side of the island. But Kilauea’s extensive sensor network means there was no gap in volcano monitoring, and field crews were on call just in case.

The hurricane had no impact on the volcano apart from heavy rainfall hitting hot rocks and turning to steam in Pu’u O’o’s crater and on the not-yet-cooled lava flows of the LERZ. There were some reports of local white-out conditions from this steam. Rain may also have triggered a few rockfalls at the summit.

The other big Kilauea news this week is that Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has set a target reopening date for September 22, aiming to reopen at least the Visitor Center and (they hope) some kind of viewing area from which visitors will be able to see the new, larger Halema’uma’u Crater. They’re also hoping to open Volcano House, but they need to check the stability of the cliffs on which it stands.

USGS Volcano Watch

Whoops! I think I missed last week’s edition. This is Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s weekly column with photos and in-depth information on some aspect of Kilauea.

Continue reading August 27: After Fire, Flood (Hurricane Lane)

August 19: The Lull Continues

This Week’s Eruption Activity

Negligible. There’s a few residual bits of lava oozing into the ocean at Ahalanui. Otherwise, there’s not much going on at the summit or LERZ.

[In case Tweet above isn’t showing, here’s the 3D Fissure 8 video on HVO website.]

USGS: “This thermal map shows the fissure system and lava flows as of 6 am on Wednesday, August 15 [2018]. Residual lava in the Fissure 8 flow continues to drain, feeding numerous small ocean entries. In the Fissure 8 cone there was a single, small lava pond.” (Full-sized)
On Friday August 19, HVO lowered ground alert levels, just as they lowered aviation alert levels after the ash explosions stopped. Here’s the official notice:

In light of the reduced eruptive activity at Kīlauea Volcano over the last several days, HVO is lowering the Alert Level for ground based hazards from WARNING to WATCH. This change indicates that the hazards posed by crater collapse events (at the Kīlauea summit) and lava flows (Lower East Rift Zone; LERZ) are diminished. However, the change does not mean with absolute certainty that the LERZ eruption or summit collapses are over. It remains possible that eruption and collapse activity could resume.

[…]

Remarks: Background and Prognosis

Kīlauea Volcano has remained quiet for well over a week now, with no collapse events at the summit since August 2. Except for a small, crusted-over pond of lava deep inside the fissure 8 cone and a few scattered ocean entries, lava ceased flowing in the LERZ channel on August 6. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions rates at the summit and LERZ are also drastically reduced (the combined rate is lower than at any time since late 2007).

It remains too soon to tell if this diminished activity represents a temporary lull or the end of the LERZ lava flows and/or summit collapses. In 1955, similar pauses of 5 and 16 days occurred during an 88-day-long LERZ eruption. During the Mauna Ulu eruption (1969-1974), a 3.5 month pause occurred in late 1971.

HVO will continue to record detailed visual observations and scrutinize incoming seismic, deformation, and gas data, looking for evidence of significant movement of magma or pressurization as would be expected if the system was building toward renewed activity.

Also on Friday, the National Park Service issued a media release and gave select local media a guided tour of the summit. Lots of info, and worth seeing:

This Week’s USGS Photos From Summit to Sea

Continue reading August 19: The Lull Continues

August 13: Pele Is Sleeping, Part 2

August 13, 2018. USGS: “Ocean entries were small and scattered this morning, but lava had made no significant advance toward Isaac Hale Beach Park. The Pohoiki boat ramp remains intact, but access from it to the open bay has been cut off by a sand bar that extends from the jetty to the shore. As molten lava streams into the ocean, it shatters into small glassy fragments, forming black sand that’s transported along the coast by longshore currents.” (Full-sized)
Eruption Summary: the Lull continues

Fissure 8 is still emitting a gas plume, and lava circulates weakly within the cone. Residual lava is still draining into the ocean near Pohoiki. Gas emissions at the summit, Pu’u O’o, and even the Lower East Rift Zone are low.

August 13, 2018. USGS: “During their overflight this morning, HVO scientists observed no new activity at any of the lower East Rift Zone fissures. At the fissure 8 vent, a “puddle” of sluggish lava remained in the cone. No other incandescent lava was seen along the fissure 8 channel, except at the ocean entry. Some other fissures were steaming, as seen here.” (Full-sized)

[This post is a followup to yesterday’s, where I reviewed HVO news, photos and videos from the past week. Here, I’m covering everything else: local news media outlets, images/videos from local photographers, and a week’s worth of good Q&A from HVO/USGS on social media.]

Miscellaneous SCIENCE-y news

Timelapse of Kilauea Caldera Aug 2-9

August 12 LERZ Overflight

The latest from the @HotSeatHawaii gang. Mick Kalber’s August 12 video shows a few fingers of red lava dribbling out of the delta, and Pohoiki’s new sandbar which is currently blocking the boat ramp, but that can be moved. There’s a quick sweep over the weakly steaming fissures of the LERZ and a glimpse into Fissure 8’s cone, and then they tried to take a distant look at Kilauea’s summit:

Here’s Mick’s observations from this flight.

Bruce Omori posted photos of the same flight on Facebook, including:

Continue reading August 13: Pele Is Sleeping, Part 2

August 12: Pele Is Still Sleeping, Part 1

August 11, 2018. USGS: “The UAS team (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) flew a mission over fissure 8 to assess conditions within the cinder cone. As shown, fissure 8 contains two small ponds deep within its crater. One pond slowly circulates with an incandescent surface while the other pond is stagnant with a crusted top.” (Fuil-sized)
Weekly Eruption summary

So it’s finally arrived, the end (or at least intermission) of Fissure 8’s endless outpouring of lava from May 27 to August 4. The shutdown happened at the end of last week over a period of just 2-3 days.

August 11, 2018. USGS: “The fissure 8 cinder cone is currently about 30 m (100 ft) tall with a very broad base. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions are low, reflecting the diminished activity of the lava ponds in the cone.” (Full-sized)

Fissure 8 isn’t quite dead. There’s lava pooled deep down the cone, bubbling weakly. Residual lava is still draining out of the lava delta into the ocean, some of it quite near the now-famous Pohoiki Boat Ramp. But most of the surface channels have drained and solidified.

August 11, 2018. USGS: “Close view of the Pohoiki boat ramp during this morning’s overflight. The southern-most flow margin has not advanced significantly toward the Pohoiki boat ramp, but black sand and larger fragments from the entry areas have washed ashore to create a sand bar and beach at this site. Geologists observed several small lava streams trickling into the sea along the souther portion of the lava delta, producing weak laze plumes.” (Full-sized)

The volcano’s summit has settled, too. The caldera floor isn’t inflating or deflating, and the swarms of earthquakes and summit collapses have stopped.

So now the question becomes: how long do geologists, national park staff and residents wait before deciding it’s safe to start repairing the damage? Past Lower East Rift Zone eruptions have paused for days, even weeks. So scientists and officials continue to warn that this eruption could resume at any time.

August 7, 2018. USGS: “Civil Air Patrol captured this image of Kīlauea’s summit yesterday (August 7, 2018), providing a stunning view of Halema‘uma‘u and the collapsed area within the caldera. Prevailing trade winds have blown much of the ash emitted during earlier explosions to the southwest (left), where thin layers of light-colored volcanic ash now blanket the landscape. Plumes of smoke rising from the flank of Mauna Loa were from a brush fire that continues burning today. Mauna Kea is visible on the upper right horizon; the crater visible at bottom center is Keanakāko‘i.” (Full-sized)

This week’s Volcano Watch column from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, written August 9, addresses exactly that question:

“Is Kīlauea Volcano’s summit and rift zone activity pau or paused?”

Also, it looks like I missed an August 6 USGS news media briefing discussing the eruption’s apparent shutdown (full audio).

Now let’s look back at recent images and videos posted on HVO’s Photo & Video Chronology page, which only shows the 10 most recent posts— so these are visible there now, but won’t be in the future.

First of all, remembering past collapse events— with sound! Full-sized video posted here, or a faster-loading small version on Twitter:

Continue reading August 12: Pele Is Still Sleeping, Part 1

August 6: Kīlauea Falls Quiet

August 6, 2018. USGS: “Kīlauea’s summit remains quiet following the most recent collapse event on August 2 at 11:55 a.m. HST. This quiet is a significant departure from the pattern of episodic seismicity and continuous deformation over the past several months, with very low rates of seismicity continuing today. Deformation at the summit as measured by tiltmeter and GPS instruments slowed and virtually stopped between August 4 and 5. This view of Halema‘uma‘u is toward the southeast.” (Full-sized)

Today’s Eruption Summary

Little lava is leaving Fissure 8 today. It’s still bubbling away within the cone, but the channel below it is crusted over, with only residual lava draining down towards Ahalanui and the edge of Isaac Hale Park, and almost no laze plume. The summit’s seismicity is way down, and there’s almost no inflation or deflation since August 3. Now the question becomes: is this a temporary pause, or is this eruption really over?

(Full-sized version of this video)

Today’s Volcano update (12:49 PM HST) paints a picture of a pause – but we’re not yet ready to say if it’s a full stop.  https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/status.html

@USGSVolcanoes on Twitter

August 6, 2018. USGS: ” This morning’s overflight revealed a weak to moderately active pond of lava bubbling within the fissure 8 cone, but no visible supply of lava from fissure 8 into the channel. The perched channel and braided sections downstream were essentially crusted over with some incandescence noted. Active flow in the channel was observed immediately west Kapoho Crater.” (Full-sized)
August 6, 2018. USGS: “There were small active lava ooze outs at the coast in the vicinity of the former Kapoho Bay and Ahalanui, and the laze plume was greatly diminished. Active lava is close to the Pohoiki boat ramp but did not advanced significantly toward it over the weekend.” (Full-sized)
August 6, 2018. USGS: “High-elevation view of Halema‘uma‘u and the larger Kīlauea Crater from this morning’s overflight, with Mauna Loa in the background. HVO and NPS Jaggar Museum are located on bluffs at the far side of the crater in the center of the view. Note the smoke plume from a still-burning brushfire on the lower flank of Mauna Loa.” (Full-sized)
August 6, 2018. USGS: “This photo shows a portion of the Crater Rim Drive that led from the east to the Halema‘uma‘u parking area, which slid into the growing crater weeks ago. Note a slump block located below and near where the road ends at Halema‘uma‘u. The September 1982 lava flow can be seen in the top of the photograph.” (Full-sized)

By the way, while trying to track down photos of the September 1982 lava flow, I found an old webpage (No datestamp, but Internet Archive first scraped it in 1999) with some interesting aerial photos of Kīlauea Caldera from the 70s and 80s. It would be fun to try to match the 1974 aerial photo with a new one, but I haven’t seen one taken from that high yet.

August 6, 2018, 2 pm HST. Latest USGS map of Lower East Rift Zone. (Full-sized)

At the top of this post, I posted Mick Kalber’s overflight video from this morning. Bruce Omori posted his photos and notes from this flight on the Lava Update blog, same post mirrored on Facebook with a few more observations:

Lava Update for Monday, Aug 6, 2018, 6:00 am – Kilauea's lower east rift zone overflight:Kīlauea's eruptive activity…

Posted by Extreme Exposure Fine Art Gallery on Monday, August 6, 2018

August 5: Pele Taking It Easy This Week

“Since May 16, 2018, the crater depth has more than tripled and the diameter has more than doubled.” ~ HVO

Kilauea summit changes, 2018. USGS: “Here’s another ‘then and now’ look at Halema‘uma‘u (view is to north). At left, Halema‘uma‘u, as we once knew it, and the active lava lake within the crater are visible on April 13, 2018. At right is a comparable view captured on July 28, 2018, following recent collapses of the crater. The Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park Jaggar Museum and USGS-HVO can be seen perched on the caldera rim (middle right) with the slopes of Mauna Loa in the background.” (Full-sized)
Current Eruption Summary

Volcanic activity has decreased over the past few days, at both the summit and down in the Lower East Rift Zone. However, as HVO warns us (and has stated many times), eruptions wax and wane, and can even stop and start up again. So we don’t yet know whether Pele’s winding down or simply taking a breather.

But for the moment, at least, Fissure 8 is putting out much less lava than before— in fact, this morning (August 5) its level is so far down that it’s barely feeding the channel. Lava levels were already lower and sluggish, and today the river is mostly crusted over and/or moving as thicker, crumbly a’a flows. However, blockages downstream are still causing overflows and breakouts.

“View of the fissure 8 cone and spillway from HVO’s overflight early this morning, during which geologists observed eruptive activity that was much less vigorous than in past days.” (Full-sized)

Despite the slowdown at the source, lava continues to ooze into the ocean along a long section of the southern flow front. It’s edged a little bit closer to the boat ramp and local park that’s become a symbol for residents mourning the loss of so many other beloved places:

August 5, 2018. USGS: ” A diffuse laze plume afforded a clear view of Isaac Hale Beach Park and the ocean entry, which was being fed across a broad front by viscous pāhoehoe. Lava was oozing laterally, but was still about 70 m (230 ft) southeast of the Pohoiki boat ramp as of this morning.” (Full-sized)

Lava tour boat operator Ikaika Marzo did not see any signs of slowdown at the flow front this morning, and he reported that lava has claimed claimed another popular local surf spot called “Dead Trees.”

At the summit, intervals between collapse events are lengthening. As of 5 pm August 5, it’s been over three days since the last summit collapse event. Today’s mini-update on HVO’s website states:

Rates of seismicity and deformation at summit and lava output from fissure 8 have decreased since most recent collapse event at 11:55 am HST August 2. Too soon to tell if the decrease will persist. Hazardous conditions remain.

Lower East Rift Zone USGS lava map as of 10 am, August 3. (Full-sized)
Friday, August 3 USGS Thermal Map of Lower East Rift Zone as of 12:30 pm. (Full-sized)
Latest Satellite Imagery

The most recent scenes, acquired on August 1, 2, and 5, show little overall motion, which is consistent with the slowing of deformation in the summit area over the past few days. — HVO

Kilauea Caldera satellite radar imagery, May 5-August 5, 2018. (Full-sized)
Volcano Watch, August 3

And on August 3— before today’s significant lava decrease at Fissure 8— HVO posted out its weekly Volcano Watch column:

Outline of the rest of this post:
  • Summary of USGS presentation at Thursday Volcano Village meeting
  • Review of USGS eruption images from past few days (plus video)
  • News and Kilauea-related information from other official agencies
  • Kilauea-related headlines from local news media
  • Overflight photos/videos of LERZ from @Hotseathawaii, etc
  • USGS Q&A about eruption (and recent signs of change) on social media

Continue reading August 5: Pele Taking It Easy This Week

August 2: Word of the Day – ‘Tombolo’

August 2, 2018. USGS: “During this morning’s overflight, HVO geologists used a telephoto lens to capture this image of the fissure 8 cone. Activity within the vent was low, with small bubble bursts in the eastern part of the vent and low lava fountains on the western side. The fountains occasionally threw spatter onto the west rim of the cone (right).” (Full-sized)
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:

Former Overlook Vent cam, now pointed at a sheer cliff above where it used to be. (Full-sized)
HVO Panorama cam. All of these from about 6:40 pm HST. (Full-sized)
Halema’uma’u wide angle webcam. (Full-sized)

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:

Aug 1, 2018. USGS: “This animated GIF shows a sequence of radar amplitude images that were acquired by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana CosmoSkyMed satellite system. The images illustrate changes to the caldera area of Kīlauea Volcano that occurred between May 5 and August 1 at about 6:00 a.m. HST.” (Full-sized

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.”

Continue reading August 2: Word of the Day – ‘Tombolo’

July 31: Record Officially Broken

July 31, 2018. USGS: “The fissure 8 ocean entry and laze plume as they appeared at sunrise this morning. The Pohoiki boat ramp is visible just below the plume (slightly left of center).” (Full-sized)

89 days. That’s how long it’s been since the first fissure started spattering lava in Leilani Estates. Which is one day longer than the 1955 Kapoho eruption, which had been the longest LERZ eruption since records started being kept.

July 31, 2018. USGS: ” In this aerial view, taken during HVO’s overflight this morning, you can follow the lava channel from fissure 8 (gas plume visible in far distance) as it wends its way toward Kapoho Crater (lower left), where it then heads south toward the ocean.” (Full-sized)
Today’s Eruption Summary

LERZ erupton as per usual. There’s “ooze-outs” of lava on the flow margin, but further inland from Pohoiki. Today’s M5.3 summit collapse was at 7:59 am, when the crater was steaming in the cool morning air.

From HVO, the livestream caught the pressure wave passing through the cloud:

From the NE Caldera Rim livestream, ground shaking and rockfalls were more visible:

There was also a regular M 4.5 earthquake at 12:30 am.

HVO/USGS has updated and reorganized their 2018 Activity page, with FAQs, resources, and links to photos and videos.

Continue reading July 31: Record Officially Broken