Lava Reaches Kilauea Summit Rim, Subsides

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says activity at Kilauea’s summit has remained relatively steady since Monday morning.

On Monday morning, HVO officials reported that the lave lake level had risen to as close to 7 feet from the crater rim. Since then, the lava lake has reached the rim.

HVO says that early Tuesday morning, during a time where spattering subsided, lava reached the rim of the crater briefly, but did not overflow onto the Halema’uma’u Crater floor.

At the Kilauea summit, no significant change in tilt was recorded over the past day. HVO says activity has remained consistent and is about 10-13 feet from the Overlook Crater Rim. These lava lake levels have fluctuated, depending on the amount of spattering activity occurring.

Seismic activity below Kilauea’s summit, as well as the upper East and Southwest Rift Zones, remains elevated.

On the north flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, a weak deflation was recorded on the tiltmeter over the past day. No other changes have been observed.

HVO says webcam views of the nighttime incandescence and daytime smoke of the June 27 lava flow northeast of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō shows that activity is still occurring

When last mapped on April 23, HVO noted that the furthest activity from the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent was about 5 miles to the northeast. This same activity is about 8 miles from the area of Highway 130.

“Presently, the Kilauea Volcano alert level remains at the watch or orange level and there is no immediate threat to any down slope communities,” Hawai’i County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira said Tuesday morning.