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Lava erupts on crater floors of both Halemaumau and Puu Oo

Craig Gima
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USGS / HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
The lava lake in Halemaumau Crater is seen in this webcamera image Thursday morning.

Lava erupted on the crater floors of both Halemaumau and Puu Oo overnight and Thursday morning, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists said.

At Halemaumau, lava overtopped the rim of the lava lake, beginning just past 10 p.m. Wednesday and at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday.

The lava lake level remained at or just below the lava lake rim Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Scientists recorded slight inflation at the summit, but the inflationary trend may have ended Thursday morning

The lava has covered about 28 acres of Halemaumau Crater floor since the lake began overflowing last week, Hawaian Volcano Observatory scientists said.

Lava also erupted onto the floor of Puu Oo’s crater in several small pulses. The lava flow on the crater floor at Puu Oo began Wednesday morning.

Surface lava flows remain active northeast of the Puu Oo. Most of the surface lava are less than two miles from the vent, with the furthest flow about five miles northeast of the crater, far from populated areas. One flow is burning in a forest area.

Lava from Puu Oo approached the outskirts of Pahoa in September, but the flows stopped in March.

The lava lake in Halemaumau begain rising on April 21 during a period of inflation at the summit. The sight of lava in Halemaumau, last visible from the crater rim in 1974, has drawn crowds of visitors to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, especially at night.

Seismicity, an indication of underground magma movement, remains elevated at the summit and the East Rift Zone with a magnitude 2.8 earthquake recorded at 8:24 a.m. about 1.7 miles south southwest of Kilauea’s summit  at a depth of 2 miles and a magnitude 2.7 earthquake about 1.9 miles south of the summit at a depth of 2 miles at 8:27 a.m.

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