The flow front remains active on the coastal plain, but has only moved about 60 m (~200 ft) closer to the ocean in the past three days. As of midday on July 15, the slow-moving pahoehoe is roughly 870 m (~0.5 mi) from the ocean. Activity upslope continues to widen the flow margins. The light gray surface in this image is the new pahoehoe of the 61G flow. Photo taken Friday, July 15, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

Aerial view of the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park Coastal Ranger Station at the end of Chain of Craters Road with the active lava flow (61G) in the distance. Correlative thermal image highlighting the hot, active flow at the top portion of the photo (right). Photos taken Friday, July 15, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

Saturday, July 16,2016 U.S. Geological Survey/Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Kilauea Volcano Status

Activity Summary: Eruptions continue at Kīlauea Volcano’s summit and East Rift Zone. The 61G lava flow extending southeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō towards the ocean remains active but does not pose a threat to nearby communities. The lava lake at Halemaʻumaʻu Crater continues to circulate and spatter. No significant change in tilt or seismicity has occurred over the past day.

Summit Observations: Tiltmeters at the summit of Kilauea recorded no significant change in tilt over the past day. On Thursday morning, the lava lake at Halemaʻumaʻu was 27.5 meters (90 feet) below the floor of Halema`uma`u. Web camera imagery indicates a slight drop in lake level over the past 48 hours. Typical fluctuations in seismic tremor continue as the vigor of lava lake circulation and spattering changes. Sulfur dioxide emissions from the summit vent over the past week ranged from 3,600 to 7,300 metric tons/day.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: HVO webcams show several persistent incandescent vents on the floor of Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater. There were no significant changes in seismic activity. A tiltmeter on the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō has recorded very minor inflationary tilt over the past 24 hours. The sulfur dioxide emission rate from all East Rift Zone vents on July 15 was about 270 metric tons/day.

Lava Flow Observations: The 61G lava flow, southeast of PuÊ»u ʻŌʻō remains active on the coastal plain on KÄ«lauea’s south flank. HVO geologists visited the flow field on Friday. As of midday, the lava flow front was about 730 m (0.4 miles) from the coastal emergency road and 870 m (0.5 miles) from the ocean, an advance of only about 60 m (200 feet) since July 12. The leading tip of the flow was active on Friday and the area around the flow tip has widened. The most vigorous flow activity was nearer the base of the pali and extending out about 1.3 km (0.8 miles) from the base of the pali. See the most recent HVO thermal map and images of lava for additional information http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/maps/ and http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/

Areas of incandescence remain visible in overnight webcam views of the active lava flow field, marking lava tube skylights and areas of active lava on the pali and along the flow as it extends towards the coast.

This map is a georeferenced thermal image mosaic showing the distribution of active and recently active breakouts on the PÅ«lama pali and coastal plain. The thermal images were collected during a helicopter overflight on July 15. The episode 61g flow field as mapped on July 8 is outlined in yellow to show how the flow has changed. Most surface flow activity is on the coastal plain, but breakouts also continue on pali. The leading tip of the active flow was 870 m (about half a mile) from the ocean.