Hawaii Volcano National Park - Current Update
HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 7:36 AM HST (Tuesday, October 19, 2010 17:36 UTC)
This report on the status of Kilauea volcanic activity, in addition to maps, photos, and Webcam images (available using the menu bar above), was prepared by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park status can be found at http://www.nps.gov/havo/ or 985-6000. Hawai`i County Viewing Area status can be found at 961-8093. All times are Hawai`i Standard Time.
KILAUEA VOLCANO (CAVW #1302-01-)
19°25'16" N 155°17'13" W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE
Activity Summary for past 24 hours: DI deflation started last night while Kilauea continued to erupt at two locations. On the east rift zone, lava flowed from the TEB vent through tubes to feed an ocean entry and continuing surface flows west of Kalapana. At the summit, lava deep within an eruptive vent inset within the east wall of Halema`uma`u Crater produced glow visible overnight from the Jaggar Museum. Sulfur dioxide emission rates from the summit and east rift zone vents remained elevated.
Past 24 hours at Kilauea summit: The summit tiltmeter network recorded the start of DI deflation at 10:30 pm last night; the GPS and tiltmeter networks showed longer-term inflation/extension since March 2010. High lava stands continued until noon yesterday. Glow was visible from the Jaggar Museum Overlook overnight with the intensity of the glow paradoxically weaker during the high lava stands.
Eight earthquakes were strong enough to be located beneath Kilauea volcano - four on south flank faults, three beneath the upper east rift zone, and one beneath the area west of the southwest rift zone. Seismic tremor levels remained elevated and variable, with sudden decreases to very low values during the high lava stands followed by strong tremor bursts as the lava violently degases while returning to its previous level.
The summit gas plume is ascending to about 500 m (1,640 ft) above the caldera floor while moving to the west this morning. The most recent (preliminary) sulfur dioxide emission rate measurement was 750 tonnes/day on October 15.
Past 24 hours at the middle east rift zone vents: The tiltmeter on the north flank of Pu`u `O`o recorded the start of DI deflation at 3 am this morning; a single glowing hole was again visible on the crater floor. Seismic tremor levels were low and steady. The most recent (preliminary) sulfur dioxide emission rate measurement from east rift zone vents was 340 tonnes/day on October 12, 2010.
Lava from the TEB vent, where weak glow was observed last night, flowed through tubes down slope to feed continuing surface flows on the coastal plain and at least one ocean entry at the Puhi-o-Kalaikini delta, all west of Kalapana Gardens subdivision; a moderate-sized tube breakout covered a bit more of highway 130 and filled in low areas between highway 130 and the inactive flows that stopped short of Kalapana Gardens earlier this year.
HAZARD ALERT: The lava deltas and adjacent areas both inland and out to sea are some of the most hazardous areas on the flow field. Frequent delta/bench collapses give little warning, can produce hot rock falls inland and in the adjacent coastal waters, and can produce large local waves. The steam plume produced by lava entering the ocean contains fine lava fragments and an assortment of acid droplets that can be harmful to your health. The rapidly changing conditions near the ocean entry have been responsible for many injuries and a few deaths.
Kalapana Public Access Information from Hawai`i County Civil Defense: Kalapana Gardens is a private subdivision and access will only be granted to subdivision residents. Private property borders highway 130 through Kalapana, and visitors to the Hawai`i County Lava Viewing Area are not allowed access off the highway easement. Hawai`i County Police will be monitoring the area. Hawai`i County Lava Viewing Area status can be found at 961-8093.
Maps, photos, Webcam views, and other information about Kilauea Volcano are available at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/activity/kilaueastatus.php. A daily update summary is available by phone at (808) 967-8862.
A map with details of earthquakes located within the past two weeks can be found at http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/
A definition of alert levels can be found at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/alertsystem/index.php
Definitions of Terms Used:
composite seismic events: is a seismic signal with multiple distinct phases that has been recorded frequently at HVO from the Halema`uma`u Overlook vent area since its explosive opening in March, 2008. For the composite events recorded at Halema`uma`u, we typically see an initial high frequency vibration lasting for a few seconds that have been correlated with rockfalls. This is followed by about 30 seconds of a long-period (LP) oscillation with an approximately 2- to 3-second period. The final phase of the signal is several minutes of a very-long-period (VLP) oscillation with an approximately 25- to 30-second period. The LP signals are interpreted to be from the uppermost portion of the conduit and VLP signals are interpreted to be fluid passing through a deep constriction in the conduit through which lava rises to the pond surface we see in the webcam.
high lava stands: Starting in June, 2010, lava within the Halema`uma`u Overlook vent rises 20-40 m over an interval of 10s of minutes, remains high for up to several hours, and then drains back to its previous level, while vigorously degassing, in several minutes. During the high stand, the gas plume becomes wispy, gas emissions halve in rate, and seismic tremor drops to very low levels; the high stand is followed by a strong seismic tremor burst, lasting several minutes, accompanying the draining. Many, but not all, high lava stands start with a rockfall event, some accompanied by VLP seismic energy.
Inflating surface flow: is a lava flow that may not advance but continues to thicken as its top and bottom crusts grow around a continuously replenished molten interior. This can be visualized as a large flat bladder of molten lava that could burst along its edges at any time.
Hakuma horst: a horst is an section of earth that is raised between two nearly parallel faults so that its surface is higher than the surrounding ground. The Hakuma horst is located along the coast west of Kalapana; it was responsible for diverting lava through Kalapana village in 1990 and appears to be having a similar influence on lava flows in 2010.
Halema`uma`u Overlook vent: has been difficult to describe concisely. The vent is actually a pit, or crater, in the floor of the larger Halema`uma`u Crater in the floor of the larger Kilauea caldera or crater - a crater within a crater within a crater. It is easiest to describe as a pit inset within the floor of a crater within a caldera. The pit is about 140 m (460 ft) in diameter at the Halema`uma`u Crater floor, is about 50 m in diameter at the pit floor, and is about 200 m (660 ft) deep. As of November, 2009, a lava pond surface has been visible in a hole in the floor of this pit.
glow: light from an unseen source; indirect light.
incandescence: the production of visible light from a hot surface. The term also refers to the light emitted from a hot surface. The color of the light is related to surface temperature. Some surfaces can display dull red incandescence at temperatures as low as 430 degrees Centigrade (806 degrees Fahrenheit). By contrast, molten lava displays bright orange to orange-yellow light from surfaces that are hotter than 900 degrees C (1,650 degrees F).
CD: Hawai`i County Civil Defense
tonne: metric unit equal to 1,000 kilograms, 2,204.6 lbs, or 1.1 English tons.
tephra: all material deposited by fallout from an eruption-related plume, regardless of size.
ash: tephra less than 2 mm (5/64 inches) in size.
TEB: Thanksgiving Eve Breakout, the designation used for lava flows that started with a breakout on November 21, 2007.
microradian: a measure of angle equivalent to 0.000057 degrees.
DI tilt event: DI is an abbreviation for 'deflation-inflation' and describes a volcanic event of uncertain significance. DI events are recorded by tiltmeters at Kilauea summit as an abrupt deflation of up to a few microradians in magnitude lasting several hours to 2-3 days followed by an abrupt inflation of approximately equal magnitude. The tilt events are usually accompanied by an increase in summit tremor during the deflation phase. A careful analysis of these events suggests that they may be related to changes in magma supply to a storage reservoir at less than 1 km depth, just east of Halema`uma`u crater. Usually, though not always, these changes propagate through the magma conduit from the summit to the east rift eruption site, as many of the DI events at Kilauea summit are also recorded at a tiltmeter at Pu`u `O`o, delayed by several hours. DI events often correlate with lava pulses and/or pauses in the eruption at the Pu`u `O`o/July 21/TEB vents.
More definitions with photos can be found at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/index.php.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is one of five volcano observatories within the U.S. Geological Survey and is responsible for monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawai`i. Source: Kilauea Volcano Observatory
Kilauea Volcano Cam
This is a static image of Kilauea,
The VolcanoCam image automatically updates approximately every two hours.
Volcano image courtesy of ...
Live webcam images of various Hawaii volcanoes
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Webcam