Yesterday in Hawaii, two new lava breakouts from Kīlauea’s Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone began just before 7:00 a.m. at the site of the vent for the ongoing June 27th lava flow.
The larger of the two breakouts fed a vigorous channelized flow that extended about 1 km (0.6 miles).
This lava flow had not extended beyond the existing Puʻu ʻŌʻō flow field at the time this video was taken (24 May, 8:30 a.m., HST).
Yesterday’s observations from Puʻu ʻŌʻō: At around 6:50 a.m., in concert with sharp deflationary tilt at Puʻu ʻŌʻō, two lava flows broke out from the flanks of the cone.
One is on the northeast flank, approximately 250 m (0.15 mi) from the rim of the cone, heading toward the northwest.
The other flow is on the east flank of the cone, approximately 500 m (0.3 mi) from the rim of the cone, heading toward the southeast.
At around 8:30 a.m., during an HVO overflight, the flow on the northeast flank was roughly 1 km (0.6 mi) long, and the flow on the east flank was around 700 m (0.4 mi) long, but neither has extended beyond the existing flow field.
Typical of new breakouts, the initial flow activity has been vigorous, but neither flow is currently threatening any nearby communities. The floor of Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater has subsided slightly with the new flow activity.
Persistent glow from spatter cones within the crater continues. No change in seismic activity has been noted, and remains low and steady.
The sulfur dioxide emission rate from all East Rift Zone vents was about 300 metric tons/day when last measured on May 10.
More photographs on the HVO website: http://on.doi.gov/12L4FLO
Additional information and daily updates:http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/activity/kilaueastatus.php
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