(BIVN) – The ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea is once again paused, after a 9-hour episode of lava fountaining that began and ended on Wednesday.
Episode 28 ended abruptly at 1:20 p.m. HST on July 9th, after 9 hours of continuous fountaining, the final 8 of which were high fountaining, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported.
From the USGS HVO Volcanic Activity Notice issued after the episode had ended:
The north vent stopped erupting at approximately 1:20 p.m. HST, marking the end of the episode. The south vent did not appear to activate at all during this episode and has been completely covered by new deposits. The growing cone around the north vent has begun to connect with the top of the surrounding cliff in some places.
Lava fountains reached up to approximately 1200 ft (365 m) during this episode. Volcanic gas emissions have greatly decreased since the end of fountaining. Lava flows from this episode on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu within the southern part of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) may continue to exhibit slow movement or incandescence as they cool and solidify over the coming days. Slumping of molten cone material around the vent may also continue for the next 24 hours and can produce small, localized lava flows.
The Uēkahuna tiltmeter (UWD) recorded about 15 microradians of deflationary tilt during this episode. The end of the eruption was coincident with a rapid change from deflation to inflation at the summit and a decrease in seismic tremor intensity.
No changes have been detected in the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone. The USGS Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code for Kīlauea remain at WATCH/ORANGE.
