comscore Lava flow resumes to southeast and northeast | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Top News

Lava flow resumes to southeast and northeast

Honolulu Star-Advertiser logo
Unlimited access to premium stories for as low as $12.95 /mo.
Get It Now
  • COURTESY: HAWAII VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
    This close-up image taken Friday shows the active p?hoehoe flow at Puu Oo crater.
  • COURTESY: HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
    This photo, looking west, shows the current flows that have erupted on the east side of Pu‘u ‘?‘? cone. Pu‘u ‘?‘? cone is the large fume source in the upper left portion of the photograph, and the current flows are sourced from a fissure extending down its upper east flank.
  • COURTESY: HAWAII VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
    This thermal image, looking northwest, shows the active flows east of Puu Oo. Bright yellow portions of the image represent areas of active lava. A short channelized flow was active on the upper east flank of the cone, with most activity – comprising p?hoehoe (center of image) - heading southeast.

Lava from Puu Oo crater is advancing slowly to the southeast and northeast from a fissure eruption that began Sept. 21 on the east flank of the crater. 

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has released new pictures of the eruption on Puu Oo crater.

An overflight of the flow on Friday showed lava advancing about 1.6 miles to the southeast from the fissure and .3 miles to the northeast from another flow, scientists said.

The observatory also released a thermal image of the lava flow showing active flows near the fissure spreading out. The image shows a pahoehoe flow (smooth, swirling lava) moving southeast and the small flow to the northeast. An aa (rough, broken lava) field is seen below the active flows.

The volcano is going through a series of what scientists call deflation/inflation events as the volcano apparently fills with magma, which is then released. The deflation/inflation often coincides with lava pulses and pauses in the eruption.

Within Puu Oo crater, scientists said lava has filled a pond on the east side of the crater and a glow could be seen on the west.

Comments have been disabled for this story...

Click here to see our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. Submit your coronavirus news tip.

Be the first to know
Get web push notifications from Star-Advertiser when the next breaking story happens — it's FREE! You just need a supported web browser.
Subscribe for this feature

Scroll Up