Kīlauea eruption daily update: Numerous oozeouts seen over parts of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor overnight

Overnight webcam imagery of the Kīlauea summit showed active lava remains restricted to the northeastern parts of Halemaʻumaʻu crater and outside the crater known as the downdropped block.

The eruption began Sunday afternoon. Several roughly east-west oriented vents continue to erupt on the western side of the downdropped block within Kīlauea’s summit caldera and are generating lava flows onto the Halema‘uma‘u crater floor. This area of active lava does not appear to have changed significantly in size over the past 24 hours.

Effusion rates continue to decrease but remain significant. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone. A live-stream video of the eruption is available at https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live.

Numerous oozeouts of lava were visible over other parts of the Halema‘uma‘u crater floor overnight. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field crews Thursday reported that lava fountain heights at the vents reached up to about 32-50 feet and the horseshoe-shaped spatter ramparts that have accumulated on the south/downwind side of the vents are 66 feet high.

Pāhoehoe lava flows continue to travel in north and west directions from the vents, around elevated ground from the 1982 eruption, and onto Halema‘uma‘u crater floor.

The laser rangefinder is aimed at a western portion of Halema‘uma‘u, not near the new eruptive activity, and recorded about 33 feet of uplift to this locality since the eruption started. This demonstrates that a significant amount of lava has intruded beneath the pre-existing crust within Halema‘uma‘u.

Volcanic gas emissions in the eruption area are elevated; winds Thursday prevented measurements of a suflur dioxide emission rate. The most recent SO2 emission rate of 20,000 tonnes per day was measured Wednesday afternoon. This is down significantly from the 190,000 tonnes per day measured just after the onset of the eruption on Sunday.

Reports from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field crews indicate that fine particles of Pele’s Hair and other tephra are being deposited in the area near the Keanakāko‘i Overlook, which is approximately half a mile from the eruption site. As a result, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park has closed the area to the public at this time.

Vog is impacting air quality in West Hawai‘i. Those with respiratory conditions should stay indoors. Vog information can be found at https://vog.ivhhn.org.

For discussion of Kīlauea hazards, see https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/hazards. See the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.