(BIVN) – The prolonged precursory activity at the summit of Kīlauea volcano continues, but still no high lava fountaining.
Spatter bursts and large flames were nearly continuous from the north vent overnight. In a Monday evening update, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported continued summit inflation reached a total of 15.8 microradians of inflation following the loss of 12.7 microradians during the previous episode 54 fountaining in August.
Scientists recently stated inflation-based forecasting models are no longer valid, and it is not possible to say how long the precursory activity may last.
A synthesized text-to-video voiceover was used in the narration for this story. Video courtesy the USGS.
For now, the USGS Volcano Alert Level for Kilauea remains at WATCH, and the Aviation Color Code is ORANGE.
UPDATE – (11:15 a.m.) – Minor new eruptive activity began near the base of the northwest wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater last night. From the USGS HVO on Tuesday morning:
Cracks on and near the base of the northwest wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater erupted lava just north of the vent complex beginning just before 9:00 p.m. HST last night. No fountaining was associated with the new vents which continue to feed a small flow this morning in the northwest corner of the crater floor. Intermittent eruptions of spatter bursts continued to build a small cone around the north vent and sporadic spatter bursts were also observed from the south vent. No precursory lava flows have erupted from the main vent complex since September 12. Summit inflation stalled last night shortly after the new vents opened. The summit region continues to be highly pressurized, but it is not possible to forecast what might happen next. Two possibilities include the new vents erupting continuously or the new vents shutting down and returning all activity to the established vents.
