Lava flows from Kilauea are active but have not reached the coastline

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Time-lapse of Halemaumau Overlook Vent from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

A lava pond has been active in a collapse pit in the eastern portion of Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater for over a month now, with continuous roiling and spattering. For scale, two spatter collection trays - each slightly larger than a lunch tray - can be seen on the crater's rim at the left edge of the image. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

A lava pond has been active in a collapse pit in the eastern portion of Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater for over a month now, with continuous roiling and spattering. For scale, two spatter collection trays - each slightly larger than a lunch tray - can be seen on the crater's rim at the left edge of the image. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

This nearly-vertical thermal image, taken from a helicopter, shows the lava lake in Halemaumau. The lava level has been variable over time, and today it was near the level of the deep inner ledge, which is approximately 70 meters (230 feet) below the floor of Halemaumau crater. The lava lake, mostly covered by large crustal plates, has a steady motion in which lava rises in the northwestern portion of the lake and flows to the southeastern margin, where it sinks (often accompanied by spattering). Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

This nearly-vertical thermal image, taken from a helicopter, shows the lava lake in Halemaumau. The lava level has been variable over time, and today it was near the level of the deep inner ledge, which is approximately 70 meters (230 feet) below the floor of Halemaumau crater. The lava lake, mostly covered by large crustal plates, has a steady motion in which lava rises in the northwestern portion of the lake and flows to the southeastern margin, where it sinks (often accompanied by spattering). Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

By USGS/HVO (4/29/12)

The summit continued long-term extension with short-term back-to-back deflation-inflation tilt events during which lava lake levels mimicked the tilt. Glow from the summit lava lake illuminated the Halema`uma`u gas plume as it has for the past several years. At Pu`u `O`o, glow persisted from the usual sources within the crater and, to the southeast, surface flows continued to be active on the coastal plain but had not reached the coast. Seismic tremor levels were low; gas emissions were elevated.

Active flows are still spread out across a broad area on the coastal plain, and advancement towards the ocean remains relatively slow. This image is a composite of a thermal image and normal photograph, with white and yellow areas showing active pahoehoe breakouts, and red areas showing inactive, but still warm, portions of the flow surface. On Thursday (April 26), the flow front (lower left corner of image) was about 900 meters (0.6 miles) from the ocean. The field of breakouts shown here is about 1.4 km (0.9 miles) wide. On the pali, a line of fuming areas marks the path of the lava tube through Royal Gardens subdivision. The fume from these sources partly obscures another narrow breakout on the pali. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

Active flows are still spread out across a broad area on the coastal plain, and advancement towards the ocean remains relatively slow. This image is a composite of a thermal image and normal photograph, with white and yellow areas showing active pahoehoe breakouts, and red areas showing inactive, but still warm, portions of the flow surface. On Thursday (April 26), the flow front (lower left corner of image) was about 900 meters (0.6 miles) from the ocean. The field of breakouts shown here is about 1.4 km (0.9 miles) wide. On the pali, a line of fuming areas marks the path of the lava tube through Royal Gardens subdivision. The fume from these sources partly obscures another narrow breakout on the pali. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

Another view of the flows on the coastal plain, showing the remaining distance to the ocean. The active flow front is near the center of the image (see above image for reference). Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

Another view of the flows on the coastal plain, showing the remaining distance to the ocean. The active flow front is near the center of the image (see above image for reference). Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

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