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

June 28: USGS on Latest Changes to Kīlauea Caldera [Pt. 3 of 3]

This post got long, so I’ve moved the Q&A session to Part 3. Again, I’m transcribing what HVO geologists had to say at the June 28 Volcano Village community meeting.

Part 1 was Kyle Anderson’s talk on seismicity and ground deformation— lots of nitty gritty science— while Part 2 was Don Swanson’s slideshow of some of the visible changes he’s observed within Kīlauea Caldera, with a lot of photos I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Here’s the video of the whole meeting.

Here’s my transcription of the Q&A session. A lot of these questions have already been answered online, but I like hearing direct, personal responses from some of the senior HVO scientists:

Continue reading June 28: USGS on Latest Changes to Kīlauea Caldera [Pt. 3 of 3]

June 8: A Voggy, Voggy Day

Today’s eruption summary

…Status quo continues another day.

Kilauea, HI - East Rift Zone Eruption Event - 06/08/18 Photos and Video

Fissure 8 continues to do its thing (fountains up to 230 ft today), pumping a vast river of lava towards Kapoho. Its flow front is about a mile wide where it meets the ocean. USGS reported ~190 acres of new land added to Hawaii as of noon. Some or all of this may be temporary, since “lava deltas” tend to collapse.

Kilauea, HI - East Rift Zone Eruption Event - 06/08/18 Photos and Video

[Above: 2 photos from Hawaii County Fire Department’s extensive videos/photos for June 8. Good to browse if you’re checking on homes in Kapoho.] 

Summit activity continues to follow its geyser-like cyclical pattern. Earthquakes increased until 2:44 AM, when there was an explosion (equivalent of M5.4), after which seismicity died down.  Pu’u O’o also had a small earthquake (3.2) and rockfalls today, sending up a red plume of ash. (Still hunting for photos, but it’s been reported several places.)

USGS: “Outgassing from Halema‘uma‘u produced twin pillars that rose in the still morning air and merged into a towering cap above the summit of Kīlauea just after sunrise.” (Full-sized)

East and southeasterly winds sent an unpleasant amount of vog over Hilo and the Saddle. This will continue through Saturday, then tradewinds come to the rescue.

Today’s Kilauea Alerts, Videos, Images, and Eruption News

Continue reading June 8: A Voggy, Voggy Day