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Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for March 8, 2018


Time-lapse thermal image movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. March 1-8, 2018. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Overlook Vent. March 1-8, 2018. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook Vent from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. March 1-8, 2018. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of KÄ«lauea Caldera from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. March 1-8, 2018. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Crater looking Southwest. March 1-8, 2018. Images courtesy of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

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

This past week, KÄ«lauea Volcano’s summit lava lake level fluctuated with summit inflation and deflation, ranging about 23–39 m (75–128 ft) below the vent rim. On the East Rift Zone, the 61g lava flow remained active downslope of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, with scattered breakouts on the pali and coastal plain, but no ocean entry. The 61g flows do not pose an immediate threat to nearby communities.

Mauna Loa is not erupting. Only a few small-magnitude earthquakes occurred beneath the volcano, primarily at depths shallower than 13 km (8 mi). Most notable were two earthquakes with magnitudes of 3.1 and 3.0 on Mauna Loa’s upper southwest rift on March 3 and 4, respectively. GPS and InSAR measurements continue to show slow deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone. Rates of inflation in the past few months have decreased compared to rates of the past year. It is uncertain if these lower rates will persist or pick up again in the near future. No significant changes in volcanic gas emissions were measured.

No earthquakes were reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands this past week.


This time-lapse image sequence spans just over an hour (7:50 a.m. to 9 a.m.) on February 10. The sequence, which is repeated 20 times in this “movie,” shows subsidence and collapse of the northeast rim of the west pit within the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater on KÄ«lauea’s East Rift Zone. The collapse deposited rubble on the floor of the pit adjacent to the small lava pond that has been active in the pit for over two years. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater is unstable and small collapses like this occur from time to time. Photo taken Saturday, February 10, 2018 courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey


Time-lapse movie of Pu’u ‘O’o Crater. March 1-8, 2018. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse movie from a camera positioned on the southeast flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, looking toward the active flow advancing to the southeast. The breakout point is at the left edge of the image, and the mid-field skyline at the right is roughly coincident with the top of the pali. March 1-8, 2018. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO


Time-lapse image movie from a research camera positioned on Holei Pali, looking east towards Lava Flow 61G and Kalapana. March 1-8, 2018. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

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