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COURTESY HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
A Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist does research on a lava tube at Kilauea. Scientists at the observatory say the ongoing 61-G lava flow poses no threat to communities on the Big Island.
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Lava from Kilauea continued to enter the ocean Sunday at Kamokuna and produce scattered breakouts on the coastal plain.
The 61-G flow poses no threat to Hawaii island communities, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
The flow is entering the sea at several places near Kamokuna, building an increasingly large lava delta at the base of the sea cliff, the observatory said on its website.
Crews with the National Park Service saw parts of the lava delta collapsing into the ocean Saturday evening.
Such collapses are inherently dangerous because they can create flying debris when lava hits the water. They also create an acidic plume laden with fine volcanic particles that can irritate the skin, eyes and lungs, the observatory warmed.
At the summit, lava continues to roil in a lake within Halemaumau Crater. The surface is now about 130 feet below the crater rim and continues to fluctuate, down from 115 feet Saturday.
Meanwhile, a magnitude-2.6 earthquake struck the island just after midnight Sunday. The epicenter was just north-northeast of Pahala at a depth of 24 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.