June 7: Kilauea’s New Normal (For the Moment)

Today’s eruption summary

These days, it seems like every time we think the eruption’s settled into a kind of equilibrium, it ramps up its activity in one way or another, so I’m sure this headline will be obsolete by morning.

But for today, Kilauea’s new status quo still holds: increasing numbers of summit earthquakes leading up to an ash/gas explosion (yesterday’s was 5.6); fissure 8 pouring out a river of lava adding new real estates to former Kapoho Bay. Updated count in homes lost jumps to ~600, most during the past week when 8’s wide flow covered shore communities.

IMG_0921

“Lava fountaining at Fissure 8 fluctuated with heights varying between 190 and 215 feet. This activity is feeding a lava channel flowing east to the ocean entry in the Kapoho Bay area. The noon overflight found that the delta is about 1.2 mi wide in the Vacationland/Waopae area and observed the flow was expanding northward through Kapoho Beachlots. A large area of upwelling offshore suggests the presence of lava flowing on the ocean floor in that area.” —HVO alert June 7, 4:24 HST

Easterly winds tomorrow may blow more vog, particulates, and Pele’s hair over populated areas to the west.

Last HVO update of the evening:

Video/Conference Call Excerpt:

This is something that hasn’t really come up, and I think it’s important to hear: a frank reply from USGS Wendy Stovall and Leslie Gordon during a media conference call about the psychological impact of this eruption on scientists.

Images, more videos, and info (including science segment of this conference call) after the cut.

Continue reading June 7: Kilauea’s New Normal (For the Moment)

May 31: One Month On

It’s been exactly a month since the first lava started emerging from fissures in Leilani Estates on May 3. And what a month it’s been.

USGS Caption: Crews make visual observations of activity at fissure 8 around 5:30 am HST. Fountain heights this morning continue to reach 70 to 80 m (230 to 260 ft above ground level. The fountaining feeds a lava flow that is moving to the northeast along Highway 132 into the area of Noni Farms Road. Full-sized)

The Lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption has built in intensity by stages. Earthquakes, cracks, fissures, toxic gasses, spattering lava, larger and longer lava flows, and increasingly voluminous fountains have slowly engulfed two subdivisions and the forests and fields of lower Puna. They’ve heaped up acres of spatter ramparts, thick lava flows, overflowing ponds and rivers creeping down to the ocean. They’ve emitted a’a and pahoehoespatter and lava bombs, Pele’s Hair and Pele’s Tears, tephra/pyroclasts and cinders, vog, laze, and glowing blue flames.

Meanwhile, Pu’u O’o on Kilauea’s shoulder drained and died after a historic 35-year-long eruption. The summit lava lake in Halema’uma’u Crater followed suit, draining away more gradually but no less dramatically, with rockfalls and earthquakes and clouds of ash rising as high as 15,000 feet. Downwind communities are suffering from its ash and vog. The threat of steam explosions sending rocks flying half a mile has forced the closure of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. That, coupled with jittery tourist cancellations, has struck almost as big a blow to the rest of the Big Island as lava has done to a few square miles of Puna.

The USGS and Hawaii Civil Defense have done a herculean job of monitoring, informing, warning, and moving people out of harm’s way in this fast-moving and complex natural disaster. And locals are rallying as best they can to support one another.

Today’s Eruption Summary

Kilauea’s still pulling some (alas, not all) of its punches. Early Wednesday morning, Fissure 8’s lava flow was surging towards Four Corners in sprints up to 600 yards an hour, causing emergency officials to go door to door ordering emergency evacuations. Luckily, it’s slowed, although it’s still inching towards the last remaining road in and out of Puna. People have had two precious days to go back and rescue pets and possessions before the lava cuts them off.

Meanwhile, the summit today was steaming with minor ash explosions. The USGS just released another drone survey of Halema’uma’u filmed May 26:

See caption on USGS website, and compare with drone footage of May 21.

USGS STATUS UPDATE: MAY 31 9:30 AM

Continue reading May 31: One Month On

May 31: 6PM Eruption Update – Conference Call

Normally I tuck the USGS media conference call into my digest for the day, but my notes are so long I decided to put this in its own post.

Summary: Eruption is continuing with no signs of stopping. Wendy Stovall gives all kinds of geeky tidbits about temperatures, heights, where the magma is coming from, plumbing system of Kilauea. She emphasizes that Kilauea receives a “continuous supply of magma from the deep mantle” thanks to its mantle plume. Scientists are starting to discuss calling this a new eruption, but their focus right now is on collecting data and getting info to Civil Defense.

Full notes (sorry they’re a little rough, but you’ve got the gist) below cut:

Continue reading May 31: 6PM Eruption Update – Conference Call

May 30: Pele Makes A Run For Four Corners

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.”

Honolulu Civil Beat

USGS Photo – Caption: “Lava flow erupted from fissure 8, photographed during HVO’s early morning overflight today. The lava channel was estimated to be about 100 feet wide.” (Full-sized)

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.

Amazing overflight photo of Fissure 8 and its lava flow taken on May 29 by Hawaii Civil Defense. (Full-sized)

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:

TUESDAY EVENING IN PAHOA: USGS BRIEFING

Continue reading May 30: Pele Makes A Run For Four Corners

May 29: Day of Reckoning for PGV (and LavaCam)

I’m wiped after following events of the last two nights from 3 timezones later— nothing compared to the exhaustion of Puna residents or HVO geologists, I’m sure— so today’s post is going to be less meticulous.

Today’s Eruption Summary

Sunday and Monday nights, the new monster Fissure 8 tossed fragments high in the air that carried onto houses over a mile away: clinkerly bubbly volcanic cinders (also called tephra), fine glass strands called Pele’s hair, and small volcanic glass droplets called Pele’s tears. Authorities warned people to be careful of Pele’s hair, which is basically natural fiberglass, as it can cause skin and eye irritation.

Another spate of vigorous 200-foot-tall fountaining from Fissure 8 last night sent a second fast-moving flow northeast along the edge of Sunday night’s flow, triggering more emergency evacuations and (I’m afraid, haven’t seen any tally) the loss of more homes. At 6:30am Tuesday, civil defense closed Highway 132 near the geothermal plant in anticipation that lava would reach it today. At 3:30PM, the lava did indeed begin to encroach on 132, leaving only one other road still open to Lower Puna.

Before crossing 132, 8’s northeast lava flow marched towards and into PGV property, cut off plant’s main access road, prompted staff to evacuate, and began to burn and cover over buildings and equipment. I believe sensors have been left to monitor the wells. I’m guessing a’a is a better thing to get covered by: it’s somewhat cooler than pahoehoe, and it can’t seep into cracks.

At the summit, ash eruptions and earthquakes continue. A 2am ash eruption was 15,000 feet tall, followed by a 4.5 earthquake. Light winds are sending the ash nw, towards Volcano and Pahala. There’s a meeting at Pahala tonight to discuss vog and ashfall, which is going to be an ongoing problem for these communities however long this eruptive phase lasts. 

At night, the webcam is showing incandescent blocks flung out onto the rim of Halema’uma’u Crater, but we don’t know how big or how many because it’s unsafe for scientists to approach. However, they’re installing a new thermal cam soon that should help them see the blocks. (Source: 11AM conference call) 

Time for today’s roundup of USGS bulletins and info, relevant posts by geologists, images and videos, local news reports, and the eruption through the eyes of social media.

Continue reading May 29: Day of Reckoning for PGV (and LavaCam)

May 26: Lava Turns Towards PGV

Puna residents watch with a sinking feeling of “I told you so” as a ponderous a’a flow crossed Pahoa Pohoiki Road slightly north of the geothermal plant, inching towards it. Officials think they’ve got the wells quenched  (I notice they quietly dropped the idea of plugging them), and that they’re safe.

Hawaii County photo looking south across Pohoiki Road, geothermal plant bottom left. Photo not timestamped but probably around noon. “Fissures 7 and 21 are feeding an ‘a’ā flow that has advanced to the northeast and this afternoon crossed Pahoa Pohoiki Road onto PGV property, USGS reported.”

Meanwhile, Fissure 7 is causing trouble in all directions; its lava pond has sent another flow “cascading into Pawaii crater” (6:15pm).  Looking at the map, I’m betting that crater is an old vent from a previous fissure eruption just like this one. In addition to fluid/runny pahoehoe flows, some of the longer flows are a’a.

The summit has also been busy today, with three ash explosions reaching the ~10,000 foot height between midnight and dawn, and some reaching “as high as 12-13K‘ [above sea level]” this morning. Reminder: Kilauea is 4009 feet above sea level (asl).

Moving on. I’ve gotten in the habit of checking the Lower East Rift Zone webcam last thing before I post:

USGS webcam of LERZ. Grabbed just before midnight, May 26. Is that a lava flow coming towards the camera?

Next image on the LERZ webcam.

I do believe it is. Has that lava pond broken loose?

Lava tally as of Saturday morning: 41 houses, 82 structures total. A further 37 homes isolated by lava crossing roads. Lava has covered 3.7 square miles/2372 acres so far.

Here’s the usual roundup of the day’s eruption news, astonishing views, and geeky info by geologists:

Continue reading May 26: Lava Turns Towards PGV

May 25: End of the Road for Leilani Estates?

It looks like the coup de grace for Leilani Estates, or at least its eastern part.

USG Photo, May 25, noon overflight. Fissures 6 (left) and 13 (right) send lava flows south that join and flow down to ocean (white laze plume in distance). Note metal roof(?) embedded in lava at lower left. [Full-sized]
Three weeks ago Leilani’s streets were lacerated by fissures, battered by lava spattering from cracks, and blocked off by ponderous flows that seldom traveled far from their source. But that was a slow-motion disaster. Most fissures were active only a few hours. While a few unlucky residents lost homes in the first wave, most were able to return and collect vital possessions, or even risked dangerous fumes to stay.

Last week, the main lava activity shifted east, downrift, overrunning smaller Lanipuna Gardens, threatening the PGV geothermal plant, and inundating fields and woods where homes were more scattered.  “Hotter, fresher” magma arrived last Thursday with a roar, spurting in several-hundred foot fountains and flooding forests with rivers of fast-moving pahoehoe lava. On Saturday night, these channels reached the ocean.

It was only a reprieve. A few days ago, the fissures that had given Leilani grief began reactivating. The group of fountains monitored by HCB’s livestream began to subside as uprift vents pilfered their magma supply.  Leilani’s reinvigorated vents poured out so much lava they created a pond, as well as sending new flows down to the sea. And through people’s houses:

Today, more streets were buried. Firefighters went door-to-door urging the last holdouts to flee before lava reaches them. Even parts of lower Puna not yet menaced by lava were ordered to leave before their remaining escape routes are cut off. Just in case, authorities have sent in the Marines.

82 structures lost. A two mile stretch of fissures in a residential area is pouring out an astonishing 40-60 cubit feet per second. And yet only 3.4 square miles have been covered by lava in this eruption, on an island of over 4000 square miles. But that doesn’t make it any easier for those affected.

Below, a roundup of Friday’s images, videos, USGS news, and reports from local news stations.

Continue reading May 25: End of the Road for Leilani Estates?

May 24: USGS Acquires Drones, Leilani Estates Acquires Lava Lake

Before this, the main thing USGS was using drones for was LIDAR, but today’s Photo & Multimedia entry on HVO’s website provides drone footage for both the summit steam/ash plume and Leilani/Puna lava flows.

SUMMIT ERUPTION:

This video was filmed on May 21, 2018, with a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). Limited UAV flights above the hazardous Kīlauea summit area, which is currently too dangerous for geologists to enter for ground observations, are conducted with permission from the National Park Service. […] At Kīlauea Volcano’s summit, a nearly continuous plume of gas and steam billows out of the Overlook vent and drifts with the wind. Explosions are occurring about two times a day, producing ash that rises to a height of between 8,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level. Small ash emissions occur more frequently. The larger explosions produce ash that is blown downwind, and trace amounts have fallen in nearby communities.

Addendum: there was a 6PM 10,000 foot ash explosion & plume this evening (Civil Defense photo, USGS video), sending ash southwest.

PUNA LAVA ERUPTION:

This footage is from an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) hovering near fissure 22 during the overnight hours of May 22, 2018, and looking down on the fountaining fissure complex. The view rotates upward (to the south) to track channelized lava as it flows toward the Pacific Ocean, about 3 mi (5 km) away. The ocean entry is in the distance, recognizable by a small plume. The USGS National Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office is assisting with remote data collection and mapping of lava flows and hazards…

HVO’s Photo & Multimedia blog also posted impressive Hilo Civil Air Patrol aerial photos of the lava rivers from yesterday, as well as an image of Fissure 22 taking a nap (it’s still going but lower today on Civil Beat’s Livestream) while the fissures west of it (and uprift) that activated yesterday inundated Leilani Estates.

As an aside: people keep posting ridiculous rumors, so the USGS had to reassure everybody that Mauna Loa is NOT erupting.

Latest video this evening from HNN reporter Mileka Lincoln:

Earlier in the day… welcome to the Leilani Estates Lava lake. (warning: noisy)

The residents are being absolute champs in coping with this. Here’s another video clip of the lava lake with the homeowner whose home is just outside of it. They’re very philosophical, realizing they took a gamble, which is more mature than some of the people criticizing them for taking a chance on a place that hasn’t had an eruption in about 60 years. And they’re helping one another.

Oh, my mistake. It’s a lava pond.

Mick Kalber’s helicopter overflight video today does a great job of showing the “pond,” the fissures headed from there past the geothermal plant, and the lava rivers flowing south from those fissures towards the ocea.

USGS Updates, News Roundup, And More Vivid Videos:

Continue reading May 24: USGS Acquires Drones, Leilani Estates Acquires Lava Lake

May 23: Blue Flames? Now You’re Just Showing Off

Kilauea’s chief resident has found another way to amaze and/or injure people reckless enough to get too close to her redecorating:

I had a hunch the Lower East Rift Zone webcam would be interesting tonight. I wasn’t disappointed:

I see what they mean about the Leilani fissures further west (uprift, towards the camera) reactivating today.

Edited to add: Yikes.

It’s 11:06 PM in Hawaii; second screengrab an hour or so later.

I was about to hit post, when I saw erstwhile reporter Mileka Lincoln and her crew posted this. Wow.

(recorded just an hour ago at time of this post.)

Now, let’s have the evening roundup of poignant news, amazing views, and interesting science…

Continue reading May 23: Blue Flames? Now You’re Just Showing Off