HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT – USGS
Monday, May 7, 2018, 5:59 PM HST (Tuesday, May 8, 2018, 03:59 UTC)
KILAUEA VOLCANO (VNUM #332010)
19°25’16” N 155°17’13” W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WARNING
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE
Lower East Rift Zone Eruption
The intermittent eruption of lava in the Leilani Estates subdivision in the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano continues. The location of activity today was focused on the southwest portion of the area.
This morning, two new fissure segments broke ground. The first (fissure 11) opened in a forested southwest of Leilani Estates about 9:30 am and was active for only 3 hours. The second (fissure 12) opened about 12:20 between older fissures 10 and 11. By 3:15 pm, both new fissures were [inactive] but the west end of fissure 10 was steaming heavily.
Cracks on Highway 130 widened from 7 cm to 8 cm over the course of the day and additional cracks were found just west of the highway on trend with the eruptive fissures.
– Rates of seismicity and deformation changed little throughout the day.
– Gas emissions likely remain elevated in the vicinity of fissures.
Kīlauea Volcano Summit
Tiltmeters at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano continue to record the deflationary trend of the past several days and the lava lake level continues to drop. Rockfalls from the steep crater walls into the retreating lake continue to produce occasional ashy plumes above Halema’uma’u crater. These plumes are expected to continue.
Earthquake activity in the summit remains elevated but has decreased over the past few days. Many of these earthquakes are related to the ongoing subsidence of the summit area and earthquakes beneath the south flank of the volcano.
Aerial view of fissure 12 at 1:15 p.m. HST. [USGS/HVO]