Lava flow from Kilauea continues long march to the sea

The eruption of the volcano Kilauea on the East Rift Zone remained active last week, with lava pouring into the ocean at Kamokuna, creating a tall white plume of ash and smoke.

The so-called 61g flow, which originates from vents near the Puu Oo cinder cone, continues to roll across the surface, with a secondary branch now 1.5 miles long. These flows pose no threat to surrounding communities, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Following a bench collapse at Kamokuna on New Year’s Eve, no new bench has formed, perhaps because the flanks of the island just offshore are very steep, observatory scientists said.

At the summit, the lava lake surface in Halemaumau Overlook Vent was 136 feet below the adjacent floor of the crater on Friday morning.