Lava-viewing restrictions to be enforced

A majority of spectators at the new volcano viewing area stay next to their vehicles to view the Mauna Loa lava flow, but some are straying from the traffic hazard mitigation route and trespassing into closed areas, officials say.

Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said enforcement will be increased in the area after people were seen walking into lava fields. “We’re asking people to stay by their vehicles and not get out and hike into the fields. It is dangerous out there, and so we want people to be safe.”

Be pono, be respectful and do the right thing, Roth said during a Monday morning news briefing on the latest volcanic activity of the Mauna Loa eruption.

The one-way mitigation route that stretches 4.5 miles from the entryway to a junction just before Puu Hulu­hulu opened Thursday to provide the public a safe, alternative spot to view the lava flow. Passenger vehicles may park on the right side of the route and stay for up to 90 minutes.

The Mauna Loa eruption is in its eighth day, with the lava flow from Fissure 3 crawling toward Daniel K. Inouye Highway at an average rate of 20 feet per hour, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s latest update.

The highway remained open to the public in both directions as of Monday afternoon.

The leading edge of the flow is about 2 miles from the highway and continues to spread in three directions on flat ground of the saddle region between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

During the morning news briefing, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist-in- charge Ken Hon said the lava was advancing sideways to the west and east as fast as it’s moving forward. The lava is spreading like “really thick pancake batter,” he said.

The leading edge of the flow is about 15 feet thick and thickens to approximately 30 feet in the center of its mass that’s accumulating on the flat area. “The front just moves very slowly because the material is very viscous and the ground is very flat,” Hon said.

The flow is being fed by a continuous supply of lava from Fissure 3, with an effusion rate in the morning measured between 100 and 150 cubic yards per second.

Scientists said there are no signs of the eruption diminishing at this point. They continue to detect tremors beneath the active fissure, indicating that magma is still moving underground and feeding the flow that heads downslope.

Authorities temporarily closed the volcano viewing area Sunday after someone discovered unexploded ordnance off of the route.

Lt. Col. Kevin Cronin, garrison commander of the Pohakuloa Training Area, said the lava flow was about 2.1 miles away from where the device — a training ordnance that produces smoke — was found.

Cronin echoed Roth’s sentiment about the dangers of hiking into the lava fields and reminded people to stay on the road and next to their vehicles. “We want everyone to be as safe as possible,” Cronin said.

Geologist Drew Downes of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said multiple teams have collected molten material to use as data to help with forecasting models.

The lava sampling also can be used to help scientists compare the latest eruption to past eruptions to determine where in the magma reservoir the material is being stored and maybe from where it is rising to the surface, Downes said.

Scientists on Monday said the latest measurement of the volcano’s sulfur dioxide emission rate was 120,000 tons per day, which is down from the 180,000 tons per day recorded last week. But they warned that emissions of this magnitude can still have moderate to severe impacts on regional air quality.

The latest update indicated that volcanic gas was rising high and vertically into the atmosphere before being blown to the west at high altitude, creating some vog in areas downwind.

The observatory has received reports of Pele’s hair at Laupahoehoe, the Mauna Kea Visitor Center and the Pohakuloa Training Area.

———

Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Timothy Hurley contributed to this story.