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USGS / HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
A marking pen is shown for scale to indicate the size of a solid rock fragment hurled from the vent during the explosions Wednesday and Thursday.
USGS / HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
Bits of molten lava and fragments of solid rock littered this closed section of Crater Rim Drive in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Thursday following an explosion at the summit lava lake at Halemaumau Crater.
USGS / HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
Spatter and rock fragments blasted from the summit vent during the recent explosions are scattered among the Pele’s hair that blankets the rim of Halemaumau Crater.
USGS / HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
A stretched fragment of molten lava, known as a “ribbon bomb,” fell to the ground near the rim of Halemaumau Crater during the two most recent explosions from Kilauea’s summit lava lake. The black, glassy lava fragment shown here, about the size of a standard doughnut, landed amidst smaller, solid pieces of rock blasted from the vent.
USGS / HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
Two explosions in as many days were triggered by rocks falling into Kilauea Volcano’s summit lava lake. This photo, taken at 12:26 p.m. Thursday, shows one of the explosions.
USGS / HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
This black-and-white webcam image, taken at about 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, show lava, rocks and other hot debris thrown into the air from an explosion at the lava lake at Halemaumau Crater.
Rocks falling into the summit lava lake at Kilauea triggered two explosions in as many days last week, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported.
The explosions Wednesday and Thursday sent bits of lava, rocks and Pele’s hair (fine threads of volcanic glass) to the closed sections of Crater Rim Drive around Halemaumau Crater.
The observatory posted photos of the explosions and debris on its website.
The first explosion was at about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday; the second at 12:26 p.m. Thursday.
Small pieces of rocks and lava littered the ground around Halemaumau following the blasts.
The debris included “ribbon bombs,” or stretched fragments of molten lava about the size of doughnuts, scattered among Pele’s hair.
It’s not uncommon for rockfalls to trigger explosions at the lava lake, which is why the area around the crater is closed to the public.
On Saturday, the surface of the summit lava lake was about 33 feet below the floor of Halemaumau.
The so-called 61G lava flow from the East Rift Zone continues to enter the sea at Kamokuna, posing no threat to nearby communities.
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