Movie showing spattering near the south edge of KÄ«lauea’s summit lava lake in HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u. Filmed Saturday, September 10, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

KÄ«lauea’s summit lava lake rose to within about 5 m (16 ft) of the floor of HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u Crater Saturday morning (Sept 10), before dropping back down slightly with the onset of spattering. This view, taken from the east edge of HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u, shows spattering at the south corner of the lava lake. Photo taken Saturday, September 10, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

Zoomed in view of the spattering at the south edge of the lava lake. Note the black high-lava mark from the morning of Saturday (Sept 10) on the wall just behind the spattering. Photo taken Saturday, September 10, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

View of KÄ«lauea’s summit lava lake from the north rim of HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u. Photo taken Saturday, September 10, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

Monday, September 12, 2016 U.S. Geological Survey/Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Kilauea Volcano Status

Activity Summary: KÄ«lauea Volcano continues to erupt at its summit and from its East Rift Zone. Summit tiltmeters recorded the onset of inflationary tilt at midnight, and inflation continues this morning. KÄ«lauea’s summit lava lake began to rise again with the switch to inflation. The 61g lava flow fed from PuÊ»u ʻŌʻō in the East Rift Zone continues to enter the ocean at Kamokuna and there were breakouts about 2 km (1.2 mi) inland from the coast yesterday. The 61g flow poses no threat to nearby communities.

Summit Observations: Summit deflation, after pausing briefly yesterday morning, continued slowly through the day, but switched back to inflation at midnight. Inflation continues this morning.The summit lava lake began to rise again with the switch to inflation and was about 19 m (~62 ft) below the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu this morning. Webcam views of the lava lake can be found at the following webpage: http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cams/region_kism.php.

Summit seismicity was at background levels, while volcanic tremor amplitudes continued to fluctuate in association with lava lake spattering. Average daily summit sulfur dioxide emission rates ranged from 4200 to 6400 metric tons/day over the past week. GPS and InSAR data show continued long-term inflation of the summit magma reservoir complex, ongoing since 2010.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: No noteworthy geological changes, or significant changes or trends in seismicity or surface deformation, were seen at Puʻu ʻŌʻō over the last day. The sulfur dioxide emission rate from all East Rift Zone vents was about 270 metric tons/day when last measured on September 7.

Lava Flow Observations: The 61g lava flow, extending southeast from PuÊ»u ʻŌʻō on KÄ«lauea’s south flank, continues to supply lava to the ocean near Kamokuna. Satellite imagery collected yesterday morning shows active breakouts on the coastal plain about 2 km (~1.2 mi) inland from ocean entry.

As a strong caution to visitors viewing the 61g flow ocean entry (where lava meets the sea), there are additional significant hazards besides walking on uneven surfaces and around unstable, extremely steep sea cliffs. Venturing too close to an ocean entry exposes you to flying debris created by the explosive interaction between lava and water. Also, the new land created is unstable because it is built on unconsolidated lava fragments and sand. This loose material can easily be eroded away by surf, causing the new land to become unsupported and slide into the sea. In several instances, such collapses, once started, have also incorporated parts of the older sea cliff. Finally, the interaction of lava with the ocean creates an acidic plume laden with fine volcanic particles that can irritate the skin, eyes, and lungs.

Please see these fact sheets for additional information:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2000/fs152-00/

This satellite image was captured on Thursday, September 8, by the Advanced Land Imager instrument onboard NASA’s Earth Observing 1 satellite. The image is provided courtesy of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Although this is a false-color image, the color map has been chosen to mimic what the human eye would expect to see. Bright red pixels depict areas of very high temperatures and show active lava. White areas are clouds.
Over the past few weeks, lava on the episode 61g flow has been mostly confined to subsurface lava tubes, with little activity on the surface. This image shows that a new surface breakout has appeared near the base of the pali, with lava extending about 1 km (0.6 miles) onto the coastal plain. This breakout is fed by lava breaking out of the lava tube onto the surface. Small amounts of surface lava (red pixels) are also present at the ocean entry, where lava is spilling into the water.