
USGS: "Telephoto view looking east of the southeast embayment of the active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea, on April 26 2022. In this photo, lava from the active lava lake (silvery grey surface in lower left quadrant of photo) cascades into the southeast embayment (red surface). As the lava surface within the southeast embayment was constant during the several hour observation period, it appears that from the southeast embayment lava is plunging underneath the crater floor, contributing to the gradual rise of the crater floor surface." (USGS photo by N. Deligne)
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STORY SUMMARY
HAWAIʻI VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK - It has been four years since the start of the dramatic 2018 eruption on Kilauea's lower East Rift Zone, and scientists are looking back on the changes since that event.
USGS: “A) Top left, photo of Halemaʻumaʻu before the 2018 collapse events started with the decade-long active lava lake that formed in 2008. B) Top right, photo after the 2018 collapse events had dropped the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu by more than 1,600 ft (500 m) over the course of just 4 months. C) Bottom left, in July 2019 a water lake started to form in the newly deepened Halemaʻumaʻu, and this lake continued to grow over the next year and a half. D) Bottom right, the eruption in December 2020 boiled away the water lake in a single night and continued until May 2021 before another eruption started in September 2021, continuing to the present.” (All photos are from the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory)
(BIVN) – The current USGS Volcano Alert level for Kīlauea is at WATCH, as lava continues to erupt from the western vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater. All lava is confined within the summit crater in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
It has been four years since the 2018 eruption that brought dramatic changes to Kilauea. This week’s U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s Volcano Watch was written by research geologist Drew Downs:
USGS photo taken during the eruption on the Lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea back on July 10, 2018. “All 24 fissures from this eruption opened within Lava-Flow Hazard Zone 1, which is the area with the highest lava flow coverage rate,” USGS says. “The lava flows erupted from these fissures covered 13.7 square miles and destroyed over 700 homes, all within Lava-Flow Hazard Zones 1 and 2.”
(USGS) Kīlauea Volcano’s 2018 summit collapse, shown here on July 28.
The colorful caldera lake at Kīlauea summit. The view is from the western rim of Halema‘uma‘u crater, 1900 ft (580 m) above the water surface, in a restricted area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS photo by M. Patrick 08/25/2020.
USGS PHOTO: A view of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, where multiple fissures began erupting on the evening of December 20. The northern fissure, pictured, was producing the tallest lava fountain at roughly 50 m (165 ft), and all lava was contained within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kīlauea caldera.