KÄ«lauea Volcano’s summit lava lake level rose over the past day with steep summit inflation, providing improved views of spattering from visitor overlooks in HawaiÊ»i Volcanoes National Park. This photo was taken from the rim of HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u Crater, an area that is closed to the public due to ongoing volcanic hazards, and shows spattering in the southeast corner of the lava lake. The main portion of spattering was about 10 meters (yards) high, but small bits of spatter were thrown over 20 meters (yards) high. On Friday morning (Jan. 20), small bits of spatter from the lava lake surface were visible from the Park’s Jaggar Museum overlook.

Time-lapse thermal image movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. January 12-19, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. January 12-19, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

Time-lapse movie of Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook Vent from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. January 12-19, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

Time-lapse movie of KÄ«lauea Caldera from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. January 12-19, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Crater looking Southwest. January 12-19, 2017. Images courtesy of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Telephoto image of the lava veneer on the 50.5 m (166 ft) tall eastern vent wall; the lava lake surface is visible at lower left. The solidified lava coating the vent wall is quite thick. Parts of it have bathtub rings, but much of it is composed of lumpy protuberances that might have been small ledges at the lake margin or ramparts that formed around spattering sources. If the lake level remains low, sections of this veneer will likely peel away from the vent wall and collapse into the lava lake. Photo taken Sunday, January 15, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO

The summit lava lake within HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u Crater today (Jan. 15, 2017) was about 50.5 m (166 ft) below the crater floor (vent rim). One of the most interesting things exposed by the lower lake level was the clear view of the thick, dark veneer of lava on the eastern vent wall (close-up shown below). This veneer formed when the lava lake level was high; lava next to the vent wall cooled and solidified, leaving “bathtub rings” as the lake level rose and fell. The black rock on the crater floor around the vent was created when the lava lake rose to the point of overflowing in April-May 2015 and October 2016. HVO and HawaiÊ»i Volcanoes National Park’s Jaggar Museum, perched on the rim of KÄ«lauea’s summit caldera, are visible in the upper left corner of the photo. Photo taken Sunday, January 15, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO

In places, the dark-colored veneer of lava, or bathtub rings, have already collapsed into the lava lake, exposing older, light- or rusty-colored rocks in the vent wall. The lava lake surface is visible in the foreground. The distance from the vent rim to the lake surface is 50.5 m (166 ft). Photo taken Sunday, January 15, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO

KÄ«lauea Volcano’s summit lava lake level rose over the past day with steep summit inflation, providing improved views of spattering from visitor overlooks in HawaiÊ»i Volcanoes National Park. This photo was taken from the rim of HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u Crater, an area that is closed to the public due to ongoing volcanic hazards, and shows spattering in the southeast corner of the lava lake. The main portion of spattering was about 10 meters (yards) high, but small bits of spatter were thrown over 20 meters (yards) high. On Friday morning (Jan. 20), small bits of spatter from the lava lake surface were visible from the Park’s Jaggar Museum overlook. Photo taken Thursday, January 19, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO

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

Kīlauea continues to erupt at its summit and East Rift Zone. This past week, the summit lava lake level varied between about 30 and 52.5 m (98–172 ft) below the vent rim. The 61g flow was still active, with lava entering the ocean near Kamokuna and surface breakouts near Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. As of January 15, a secondary branch of the flow was about 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the vent. The 61g flows do not pose an immediate threat to nearby communities.

Mauna Loa is not erupting. During the past week, small-magnitude earthquakes continued, primarily beneath the upper Southwest Rift Zone at depths less than 5 km (3 mi). A small number of earthquakes also occurred on the west flank of the volcano at depths above 13 km (8 miles). GPS measurements continue to show deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone.

No earthquakes were reported felt on the Island of Hawaiʻi this past week.

Please visit the HVO website (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov) for past Volcano Watch articles, KÄ«lauea daily eruption updates, Mauna Loa weekly updates, volcano photos, recent earthquakes info, and more; call for summary updates at 808-967-8862 (KÄ«lauea) or 808-967-8866 (Mauna Loa); email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

Time-lapse image movie from a research camera positioned on Holei Pali, looking east towards Lava Flow 61G and Kalapana. January 12-19, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

Time-lapse multi-image movie of Mokuʻāweoweo Caldera from the Northwest Rim on Mauna Loa. January 12-19, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO