(BIVN) – The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has shared a handful of new photos of Episode 21 in the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption.
The Mother’s Day episode featured 7 hours and 51 minutes of sustained fountaining from the north vent, reaching heights of 500 feet, before it ended on Sunday night at 8:36 p.m. HST. Lava flows from Episode 21 covered about half the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
The eruption is now paused, and the USGS Volcano Alert Level remains at WATCH.
The USGS HVO provided this analysis on Monday:
The current eruption has been characterized by episodic fountaining not seen in any eruptions since the 1983-86 episodic fountains at the beginning of the Puʻuʻōʻō eruption. Fountains and lava flows have erupted from two vents that we refer to as the north vent and south vent. Each of the previous 19 fountaining episodes lasted from a few hours to over a week and have been accompanied by strong deflation of the summit region. Pauses between the fountaining episodes have been marked by an immediate change from deflation to inflation as the magma chamber recharges and repressurizes.
The rapid rebound of recorded UWD and SDH tilt from deflation to inflation at the end of episode 21 along with strong glow overnight indicates that magma remains shallow in both the north and south conduits. Preliminary data indicate that episode 22 may be likely by the end of this week. A better estimate will be made when there is more data.
