Hawai'i Volcano Blog

The agency is recalling it teams that were deployed to assist Hawai‘i County Civil Defense during the eruption and efforts will now move to compiling damage and impact estimates.

The US Senate passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which included several provisions to protect coral reefs, improve the nation’s volcanic warning system and stop the practice of killing sharks for their fins.

Images captured last week of swirling clouds near the front of the lava flow from fissure 3 on Mauna Loa while it was still active were vortices similar to dust devils.

Seismicity and deformation patterns remain unsettled, which means there remains a potential the KIlauea eruption will resume or a new eruption can occur at or near the summit of Kīlauea. But it is unexpected Mauna Loa’s eruption will resume.

Today, at 9:35 a.m., the volcano’s status report said the Northeast Rift Zone eruption of Mauna Loa may still be active at the main fissure 3 vent, but “all 2022 lava flows appear to be inactive.”

Also in December, volcanoes Ibu and Dukono are erupting in tandem in Indonesia on the same island in the remote Maluku island chain.

The volcano is no longer producing lava that is moving outside and down the mountain, according to scientists.

The first few hours of Mauna Loa’s eruption were dynamic, and volcanologists intently watched monitoring data to track changing conditions and understand how the eruption was developing.

While the Mauna Loa eruption continues, officials with the U.S. Geological Survey say fissure 3 has significantly reduced lava and gas emission output.

The leading edge of the Mauna Loa eruption has stalled and is currently no longer a threat to Daniel K. Inouye Highway.

The Daniel K. Inouye Highway, or Saddle Road, is quite possibly the most important roadway on the island.

Three men from Kazakhstan were cited on Wednesday after being seen by three different law enforcement agencies, in the closed area of the Mauna Loa Forest Reserve.

Fissure 3 began spouting exceptionally tall fountains of lava last night.

The question of when and if the lava flow reaches and crosses Saddle Road is on everyone’s minds.

The leading edge of Mauna Loa’s fissure 3 lava flow is approximately 2 miles from Daniel K. Inouye Highway.

Thousands of vehicles are taking the 4.5-mile route on Old Saddle Road daily for a chance to see Mauna Loa’s lava flow.

Twenty Hawai‘i National Guard [HING] servicemembers were activated today to assist Hawai‘i County with the ongoing Mauna Loa eruption.

“The [Mauna Loa] lava flow is advancing sideways to the west and east about as fast as it is moving forward,” said Ken Hon, Scientist-in-Charge of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The Mauna Loa eruption viewing area along the Daniel K. Inouye Highway has now reopened after Hawai’i County detonated an unexploded ordnance found in lava rocks on Sunday Morning.

The Mauna Loa lava flow is currently 2.25 miles from Daniel K. Inouye Highway and the leading edge is advancing at an average of 50 feet per hour.