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Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for April 24, 2014

In Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater, a small lava pond (about 5 meters, or yards, wide) continued to be active and was still "gas pistoning" April 18, 2014. Gas pistoning is a cyclic rise and fall of the lava pond surface due to gas buildup and release. During the fall phase, intense spattering disrupts the lava pond surface and releases the accumulated gas. Each cycle lasted about five to ten minutes. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

In PuÊ»u ʻŌʻō crater, a small lava pond (about 5 meters, or yards, wide) continued to be active and was still “gas pistoning” April 18, 2014. Gas pistoning is a cyclic rise and fall of the lava pond surface due to gas buildup and release. During the fall phase, intense spattering disrupts the lava pond surface and releases the accumulated gas. Each cycle lasted about five to ten minutes. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Crater (4/17/14-4/24/14)


Thermal image movie of Halemaumau Crater (4/17/14-4/24/14)


KÄ«lauea Caldera from HVO (4/17/14-4/24/14)


Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook Vent from HVO (4/17/14-4/24/14)

(Activity updates are written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

A closer view of the lava lake in the Overlook crater April 18, 2014, within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at Kīlauea's summit. The lake is now about 160 m by 200 m (520 x 700 feet) in size. The lava rises to the surface in the northern part of the lake (right side in this photograph) and flows towards the south (left). Cracks around the Overlook crater rim (right side of photo) suggest that future collapses of the rim will occur at some point. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

A closer view of the lava lake in the Overlook crater April 18, 2014, within HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u Crater at KÄ«lauea’s summit. The lake is now about 160 m by 200 m (520 x 700 feet) in size. The lava rises to the surface in the northern part of the lake (right side in this photograph) and flows towards the south (left). Cracks around the Overlook crater rim (right side of photo) suggest that future collapses of the rim will occur at some point. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

A lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u produced nighttime glow that was visible via HVO’s Webcam during the past week. The lake level fluctuated between about 49 m (161 ft) and 35 m (115 ft) below the rim of the Overlook crater.

On KÄ«lauea’s East Rift Zone, the active front of the Kahauale‘a 2 flow was 7.5 km (4.7 miles) northeast of its vent on Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō when mapped on Friday, April 18. Webcam images indicate that small, lava-sparked forest fires continue to burn. In addition, a spatter cone on the northern edge of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō’s crater floor began erupting just before midnight on Tuesday, April 24. Webcam images indicate that these flows were still weakly active on Thursday.

There were two earthquakes in the past week that were felt on the island of Hawai‘i. On Saturday, April 19, 2014, at 11:52 a.m. HST, a magnitude-3.3 earthquake occurred 10 km (6 mi) southwest from Pa‘auilo at a depth of 43 km (26 mi). On Tuesday, April 22, at 8:20 a.m., a magnitude-3.1 earthquake occurred 4 km (3 mi) southwest from Volcano Village at a depth of 3 km (2 mi).

Map showing the Kahaualeʻa 2 flow in relation to the eastern part of the Big Island as of April 18, 2014. The most distant active front of the Kahaualeʻa 2 flow had retreated slightly, probably in response to a DI event which occurred at Kīlauea’s summit over past week, and was 7.5 km (4.7 miles) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Most flows were within the interior part of the flow, but a few fingers were advancing very slowly into thick forest. The area of the Kahaualeʻa 2 flow as of April 7 is shown in pink, while widening of the flow since then is shown in red. Older lava flows are distinguished by color: episodes 1–48b flows (1983–1986) are shown in gray; episodes 48c–49 flows (1986–1992) are pale yellow; episodes 50–55 flows (1992–2007) are tan; episodes 58–60 flows (2007–2011) are pale orange, and episode 61 flows (2011–2013) are reddish orange. The active lava tube is shown with a yellow line (dashed where its position is poorly known).

Map showing the Kahaualeʻa 2 flow in relation to the eastern part of the Big Island as of April 18, 2014. The most distant active front of the Kahaualeʻa 2 flow had retreated slightly, probably in response to a DI event which occurred at Kīlauea’s summit over past week, and was 7.5 km (4.7 miles) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Most flows were within the interior part of the flow, but a few fingers were advancing very slowly into thick forest. The area of the Kahaualeʻa 2 flow as of April 7 is shown in pink, while widening of the flow since then is shown in red. Older lava flows are distinguished by color: episodes 1–48b flows (1983–1986) are shown in gray; episodes 48c–49 flows (1986–1992) are pale yellow; episodes 50–55 flows (1992–2007) are tan; episodes 58–60 flows (2007–2011) are pale orange, and episode 61 flows (2011–2013) are reddish orange. The active lava tube is shown with a yellow line (dashed where its position is poorly known).

One Response to “Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for April 24, 2014”

  1. jnkk says:

    dicki

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