Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for August 16, 2018

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


Thermal time-lapse videos of the Pahoa-Kalapana Road (Route 130) at mile-marker 14.5 where metal plates cover steaming cracks on the roadway. The temperatures are relative to ambient temperature in the area so you must look at the temperature readings and not just the colors/shades alone. Images captured August 9-16, 2018 courtesy of the County of Hawaii


Time-lapse movie of the panorama of Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook Vent Wide Angle from HVO Observation Tower. August 9-16, 2018. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

Activity on KÄ«lauea’s lower East Rift Zone and at the summit of the volcano remained greatly diminished this past week. LERZ activity was limited to a small crusted-over pond of lava deep within the fissure 8 cone and a few scattered streams of lava entering the ocean. Summit earthquakes remained at low levels. The last summit collapse event occurred on August 2, and no significant subsidence has been observed since August 4. However, hazardous conditions remain in both areas. Residents in the lower Puna and KÄ«lauea summit areas on the Island of HawaiÊ»i should stay informed and heed Hawai‘i County Civil Defense closures, warnings, and messages (http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts). HVO daily status reports are posted at https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/status.html.

Two earthquakes with three or more felt reports occurred in Hawaii this past week: a magnitude-2.6 earthquake 13 km (8 mi) southeast of Volcano at -1.0 km (-0.6 mi) depth on August 11, at 6:21 a.m. HST, and a magnitude-4.4 earthquake 15 km (9 mi) southwest of Leilani Estates at 8.0 km (5.0 mi) depth on August 9 at 6:50 a.m. HST.

At Mauna Loa, HVO geophysical monitoring networks indicate that earthquakes and deformation are near background levels, and the USGS Volcano Alert level for the volcano remains at NORMAL. HVO continues to monitor the volcano closely and will report any significant changes.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

 

Quantcast