ABOVE: An active hornito is seen in this October 23 photo, taken in the upper portion of the June 27th flow. Hissing and jetting sounds coming from a small opening at the top of the hornito. (courtesy USGS)

NEWS BRIEFS

• There is no lava flow threat to nearby communities.
• The earthquake activity detected on the southwest rift of Kīlauea near Pahala declined, returning to background levels.
• Gradual deflationary tilt continued both at the summit of Kilauea and at Pu’u O’o.
• Mauna Loa volcano is not erupting. A new weekly update was posted today.

KILAUEA VOLCANO UPDATE

KILAUEA STATUS UPDATE
October 29, 2015

Activity Summary: Eruptions continue at Kīlauea Volcano’s summit and in its east rift zone at Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Very gentle deflationary tilt at the summit has continued. The lava lake level is roughly 73 m (238 ft) below the Overlook crater rim. Scattered breakouts remain active northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, within about 7 km (4 miles) of the vent. There is no lava flow threat to nearby communities.

Summit Observations: Deflationary tilt continues this morning but at a very gentle rate. The lava lake level has remained relatively steady, and was measured yesterday afternoon at 73 m (238 ft) below the Overlook crater rim. During the past day steady spattering activity was observed at the lake’s surface. The increase in earthquake activity recorded on the southwest rift of Kīlauea earlier in the week declined to background during the past several days. Earthquake swarms in this area are not unusual, and have not historically correlated with any significant change in activity directly at the volcano. These deep earthquakes (20-40 km or 12-25 miles) are associated with the conduit supplying magma from the mantle hotspot to the volcano’s summit. Summit sulfur dioxide emission rates averaged 3,400 metric tons per day for the past week.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: Web cam images this morning show no significant change in eruptive activity. Tilt at Pu’u ‘Ō’ō has roughly mirrored the summit tilt over the past days, with continued minor deflationary tilt. No significant changes in seismicity have occurred. The sulfur dioxide emission rate from all East Rift Zone vents was about 150 metric tons per day when last measured on October 21, 2015.

June 27th Lava Flow Observations: This morning, webcam images show that scattered breakouts remain active between about 2.2 and 6.4 km (1.4 and 4 mi) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. There is no lava flow threat to nearby communities.

MAUNA LOA VOLCANO UPDATE

WEEKLY MAUNA LOA STATUS UPDATE
October 29, 2015

On Thursday, September 17, the Volcano Alert Level and Aviation Color Code for Mauna Loa was elevated to Advisory/Yellow based on long-term trends in both earthquake and deformation monitoring data.

Activity Summary: Mauna Loa is not erupting. The seismicity rate is elevated above background, though at a lower weekly rate than reported in mid- to late-summer. Earthquakes occurred beneath Mauna Loa’s upper Southwest Rift Zone at depths less than 13 km (8 miles). Deformation data are still consistent with inflation of magma reservoirs beneath Mauna Loa’s summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone.

RECENT MAPS

This USGS map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the flow on September 30 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of October 23 (based on satellite imagery and ground mapping) is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system. Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava flows erupted prior to June 27, 2014, are shown in gray.

This small-scale USGS map shows Kīlauea’s active East Rift Zone lava flow in relation to the eastern part of the Island of Hawaiʻi. The area of the flow on September 30 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as of October 23 is shown in red. The yellow lines show the active lava tube system. Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava flows erupted prior to June 27, 2014, are shown in gray. The black box shows the extent of the accompanying large scale map. The blue lines show steepest-descent paths calculated from a 1983 digital elevation model. Because the flow field is changing very little at the moment, mapping of the lava flow is being conducted relatively infrequently.

SOURCE: USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory