Trees burn in Royal Gardens as lava reaches subdivision

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COURTESY: HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
This photograph, taken from the east rim of Pu‘u ‘?‘? crater, shows a cone in the crater which was occasionally spitting minor amounts of spatter from the incandescent opening at its top. In the foreground, several altered blocks (pink-orange colored) sitting on the recent lava flow are evidence of a small explosive event in the crater — sometime in the last two weeks — that cast the blocks onto the rim.

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COURTESY: HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
Active p?hoehoe, fed by a lava tube originating at Pu‘u ‘?‘?, has been migrating downslope within the Royal Gardens subdivision over the past week. The flow front is outlined by the white dotted line. The flow is running alongside a forested kipuka, triggering brush fires visible in the photo. The flow is following the west margin of lava flows emplaced in February 2010, which brings the current flow close to the last occupied residence (orange structure in center of photo) in Royal Gardens.

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Lava flows from Puu Oo have reached the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision, about 4.4 miles southeast of the crater, scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported Friday.

The lava is visible from the county viewing area in Kalapana.

Lava and burning trees could be seen below the top of the pali within Royal Gardens, county workers reported.

Scientists said the glow from lava on the east and west edges of the Puu Oo crater floor can be seen on webcams.

They were planning to fly over the lava flows Friday to check on the lava’s progress and to examine a new area where a lava glow was seen Thursday night on the north flank of Puu Oo.

The eruption in Kilauea’s middle east rift zone started with a fissure eruption on Jan. 3, 1983, and has continued since then at Puu Oo or from nearby vents, with few interruptions.

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The latest phase of the eruption began in early August when the Puu Oo crater floor collapsed. Lava refilled the crater, and a fissure eruption on the upper southeast flank of Puu Oo on Sept. 21 began feeding the lava flow, which has advanced in spurts since then.