Kīlauea Volcano Update: July 13, 2017

Spattering is common in the summit lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u Crater. This afternoon, spattering was active at a site along the east lake margin. Spatter deposits have built a small ledge extending out from the crater walls (lower right of photo), onto which fluid spatter often falls. For scale, the lake surface is 92 feet below the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater (visible at the top of the photo). July 11, 2017, U.S. Geological Survey photo.

This past week, Kīlauea Volcano’s summit lava lake fluctuated in concert with summit inflation and deflation, with levels ranging 85 to 141 feet below the vent rim.

On the East Rift Zone, the 61g flow remained active, with lava entering the ocean near Kamokuna and surface flows continuing downslope of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and on the coastal plain.

The 61g flows do not pose an immediate threat to nearby communities.

Mauna Loa is not erupting.

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of June 21 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of July 10 is shown in red. Older Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō lava flows (1983–2016) are shown in gray. The yellow line is the trace of the active lava tube. USGS map.

GPS measurements continue to show deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone.

No significant changes in volcanic gas emissions were measured.

During the past week, small-magnitude earthquakes occurred beneath the volcano, primarily in the south caldera and upper Southwest Rift Zone, at depths less than 3 miles.

One earthquake with three or more felt reports was recorded on the Big Island this past week.

On July 9, 2017, at 5:01 a.m. HST, a magnitude-2.5 earthquake occurred 1 miles southwest of Kahalu‘u at a depth of 8 miles.

The Volcano Activity Update is a weekly article written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates.

Call for summary updates at (808) 967-8862 (Kīlauea) or (808) 967-8866 (Mauna Loa); email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.