KILAUEA VOLCANO (VNUM #332010) 19°25'16" N 155°17'13" W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m) Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE Kīlauea summit and lower East Rift Zone Seismicity remains low and ground deformation is negligible at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. Earthquakes, probably aftershocks of the magnitude-6.9 earthquake in early May, continue on South Flank faults.
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. Photo by Bruce Omori
On the volcano's lower East Rift Zone (LERZ), the crew on this morning's overflight confirmed that weakly active lava continues to fill the deep crater in the fissure 8 cone with no lava extending outside the walls of the cone and no flows heading down the spillway. Other vents were steaming due to morning rains. Sulfur dioxide emission rates at the summit, Puʻu ʻŌʻō, and LERZ are drastically reduced; the combined rate (< 1,000 t/d) is lower than at any time since late 2007. On Friday (08/31), LERZ emission rates were still too low to measure. HVO crews continue to restore communication with several monitoring stations on the east side of the island that was disrupted by the passage of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Lane but the losses do not significantly reduce our ability to assess volcanic conditions. Whiteout conditions could occur on the new lava field due due to steam produced by heavy rainfall on still-hot lava flows. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) continues to closely monitor Kīlauea’s seismicity, deformation, and gas emissions for any sign of reactivation, and maintains visual surveillance of the summit and LERZ as best we can. Ground and drone crews are in the field today but continue to be hampered by weather conditions. HVO will continue to issue daily updates and additional messages as needed. The next update will be issued tomorrow morning unless significant changes occur.
MORE INFORMATION Activity Summary also available by phone: (808) 967-8862 Subscribe to these messages: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns2/ Webcam images: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_webcams.html Photos/Video: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_chronology.html Lava Flow Maps: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html Definitions of terms used in update: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/definitions.pdf Overview of Kīlauea summit (Halemaʻumaʻu) and East Rift Zone (Puʻu ʻŌʻō ) eruptions: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/background.pdf Summary of volcanic hazards from Kīlauea eruptions: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/hazards.pdf Recent Earthquakes in Hawai'i (map and list): https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/earthquakes/ Explanation of Volcano Alert Levels and Aviation Color Codes: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/alertsystem/index.php https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3139/ CONTACT INFORMATION: askHVO@usgs.gov The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is one of five volcano observatories within the U.S. Geological Survey and is responsible for monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawai`i.
*Photo by Bruce Omori