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Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for May 26, 2016


The two breakouts that began at Puʻu ʻŌʻō Tuesday (May 24) are still active. This morning, the active portions of both flows remained relatively short, extending no more than 1 km (0.6 miles) from their breakout points. The northern breakout, shown here, changed course slightly overnight, but is still directed towards the northwest in an impressive channel, with lava spreading out at the flow front. This video was taken at 8:30 a.m., HST, Wednesday (May 25).


Time-lapse thermal image movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. May 19-26, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook Vent from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. May 19-26, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook Vent from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. May 19-26, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of KÄ«lauea Caldera from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. May 19-26, 2016. Images 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. During the past week, the summit lava lake level varied between about 23 and 40 m (75–131 ft) below the vent rim within Halema‘uma‘u Crater. On the East Rift Zone, new lava flows broke out in two places on the flanks of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone on May 24, but these flows had advanced only about 1 km (0.6 mi) as of this morning (May 26). The June 27th lava flow activity is greatly diminished, with only one small breakout about 5 km (3 mi) from Puʻu ʻŌʻō. None of these lava flows were threatening nearby communities.

Mauna Loa is not erupting. Seismicity remains elevated above long-term background levels, but no significant changes were recorded over the past week. Deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone continues, with inflation recently occurring mainly in the southwestern part of Mauna Loa’s magma storage complex.

No earthquakes were reported felt on the Island of Hawai‘i 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 movie from images gathered from a temporary thermal camera looking into Pu’u ‘O’o Crater. The temperature scale is in degrees Celsius up to a maximum of 500 Celsius (932 Fahrenheit) for this camera model, and scales based on the maximum and minimum temperatures within the frame. Thick fume, image pixel size and other factors often result in image temperatures being lower than actual surface temperatures. May 19-26, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse multi-image movie of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater. May 19-26, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater North Flank from the North Rim. May 19-26, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater West Flank from Pu’u ‘O’o. May 19-26, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater East Flank. May 19-26, 2016. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

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