All images and video are courtesy the U.S. Geological Survey. A synthesized text-to-video voiceover was used in the narration for this story.
(BIVN) – It is Tuesday, May 12th, and the window for the next eruption at the summit of Kilauea is now open.
Episode 47 is most likely to begin later today or tomorrow. Inflation continues at the Hawaiʻi island volcano, and has nearly reached the point where the previous episode, on May 5th, released pressure in the form of high lava fountains.
Episode 46 lasted for 9 hours, and was contained to the caldera within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Tephra – the glassy volcanic material from the eruption – fell outside of the closed area of the park along the north rim.
Lava heights were not as high as in previous episodes, reaching a peak of about 650 feet, or 200 meters.
The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory captured a time lapse, showing the entirety of the episode. There was an ashfall advisory issued by the National Weather Service during this event. The fallout was not as severe as in previous episodes, although fine ash was reported as far away as Mountain View.
The summit is presently quiet, but that is expected to soon change.
Overnight, there was consistent glow at the south vent, with frequent bursts of large flames caused by the ignition of escaping volcanic gases. We have yet to see the precursory lava-flows that often precede the eruption of high fountains.
The USGS Volcano Alert Level is currently at ADVISORY. That will change to WATCH once the eruptive activity picks up. That could occur at any moment over the next few days.
