Civil Defense: ‘Very little’ lava activity Monday
This close-up image shows a slow-moving breakout north of the Pahoa Buddhist cemetery Sunday.
These thermal images compare activity around the flow front on November 5 and 14, 2014. White and yellow colors show areas of active breakouts. On November 5 relatively few breakouts were active in this portion of the June 27th flow, with a few small breakouts near the cemetery and one breakout a few hundred meters upslope of the transfer station. On November 14, however, scattered breakouts were abundant in this area, with new activity significantly expanding the flow margins around the cemetery and a new lobe active upslope of the transfer station.
In this Friday photo, the closest active breakouts to P?hoa Village Road were a short distance north of the cemetery, about .4 miles upslope of P?hoa Village Road. Most activity, however, was upslope of Apaa St./Cemetery Rd. A portion of this activity was focused along a lobe that was upslope of the transfer station, about 250 yards upslope of Apa?a St.
Inflation along the lava tube has created a long ridge with a deep, semi-continuous crack along the ridge centerline (right side of image). The peak of the ridge, by rough estimate, is about 13 feet above the original ground surface, in this image taken Sunday.
This Sunday photo takes a closer look into a tree mold on a recently active portion of the June 27th lava flow.
Scientists and civil defense officials continue to monitor lava breakouts behind the stalled flow front in Pahoa, including a new breakout Sunday afternoon, midway in the 13-mile lava flow, near a system of underground cracks bringing lava downslope.
There was “very little activity” Monday along the lava flows breaking out from the main flow, Big Island Civil Defense reported after a morning overflight.
The front of the flow has not advanced since Oct. 30 and is about 170 yards from Pahoa Village Road.
Geologists with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory went out to the breakout flows Sunday and reported that the closest active flow to Pahoa Village Road is about .4 miles upslope near the Pahoa Buddhist Cemetery. Another small breakout was burning grass in a pasture south of the cemetery.
Lava near the Pahoa Transfer Station remains stalled just inside the fence of the station. But a portion of lava moved east, back toward the main flow.
Another breakout about a mile northeast of the Puu Oo vent, near the forested Kahaualea cone, remained active.
Scientists and civil defense officials also reported a new surface flow, near the underground crack system, that started Sunday afternoon and remained active on Monday, about 6 miles upslope of Apaa Street.
Smoke conditions Monday were light. Tradewinds were blowing smoke from burning vegetation to the south-southeast.
