Vulkaan Kilauea op Hawaii

quote:

Steam explosion spreads ash fallout at Kīlauea summit nearly 40 days after initial eruption

Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano has been erupting since May 3, and according to the county of Hawaii's civil defense agency, another small explosion occurred on Sunday morning.

The steam explosion spewed ash plumes over Ka'u, the southernmost district of the Big Island. The eruption happened 38 days after Kīlauea’s initial explosion which sent lava, ash and toxic gases throughout Hawaii’s largest island.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that the eruption continues in the lower East Rift Zone. Fissure 8 continues to produce a large channelized flow that is entering the ocean at Kapoho Bay and producing a large laze plume.

A 5.3 magnitude volcanic eruption occurred early Monday morning about 3 miles west-southwest of the Kilauea Volcano, according to the USGS.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported no tsunami threat following the event.

The earthquake was associated with an ash explosion that happened around 04:43 a.m. local time from the Halema'uma'u crater, the USGS reported.

The USGS also stated that this event's plume was similar to past events that have sent ash clouds up to 10,000 feet in the air and drifted southwest, with possible ash fall at downwind locations.

According to the county of Hawaii civil defense agency, severe conditions may exist such as inability to breathe and choking. The agency said this is a serious situation that affects the entire exposed population.

“I’m talking about 600 families. Don’t forget the farmers, don’t forget the ranchers, don’t forget all the employees for them,” Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim said. Mayor Kim’s home was also destroyed by the volcano.

At least 700 homes have been destroyed by lava since he eruptions began, Kim told Hawaii News Now.

The lava that continues to spew from Kīlauea has reached a new high temperature of 2,140 degrees Fahrenheit.

"This is the hottest lava we've seen during this eruption," Wendy Stovall, a scientist with USGS, on Hawaii News Now said.

"Lava can't get hotter than where we are," Stovall said.

quote:

Eruption continues without signs of weakening
Kilauea’s eruption in the lower East Rift Zone continues without showing any signs of weakening. The current activity has been sustained for 38 days now, 2 days longer than the last fissure eruption that occurred in this area in 1960. However, compared to the rapid change of activity locations and advancing lava flow fronts, the eruption seems to have geographically settled for the past week.

Fissure 8 remains the centre of activity with a line of closely spaced vents that continue to erupt lava. The height of the produced lava fountains thereby fluctuates between 35 – 55 meter (115 - 180 feet), just above or below the rim of the large spatter cone (pu’u) that they build up along the downwind side of the vents. Lava fountaining from fissure 8 continues to feed a fast-moving channelized lava flow trending north and then east to the ocean entry at Kapoho Bay. Hawai’i Volcano Observatory scientists estimate the lava output to reach up to approximately 100 cubic meters per second!

The width of the active part of this long lava channel varies along its length, ranging from about 90 to 275 meter (100 to 300 yards) wide, splitting from 1 channel into a braided lava river that comes back together before turning eastward to Kapoho. Despite the fact that this channel is full of lava, only minor overflows of the channel levees occurred along the length of the lava flow which so far were short-lived and hence did not pose an immediate threat to areas not previously covered by lava.
Comparison of previous lava flow maps and thermal maps with the current ones show that the wide lava channel flowing over what used to be Kapoho concentrates into a narrow funnel from where there is now only 1 main ocean entry. The lava that has filled Kapoho Bay in the past week built a new lava delta which is now about 1 square kilometre (250 acres) in size.

The interaction of molten lava flowing into cool seawater causes pulsating "littoral explosions" that throw spatter (fragments of molten lava) and pieces of solidified glassy lava high into the air. HVO/USGS warns that these ocean entry littoral explosions can create hazardous conditions both on land and at sea, because the lava fragments can be thrown far inland, as well as seaward. Volcanic gas emissions from the fissure eruption remain very high, a recent measure indicated them to be nearly twice the value of the past two weeks.

The only other activity in the Lower East Rift Zone fissure system was glow, degassing and weak spattering noted for the last several days at Fissures 16 & 18. This activity is however not creating any lava flows.

quote:

Kilauea’s summit caldera continues to subside
Kilauea’s summit caldera continues to subside in response to the withdrawal of magma from beneath the volcano’s summit that drains to the Lower East Rift Zone eruption site. The seismic cycle with M5 events and explosions in Halema’uama’u crater also persists, resulting in inward slumping of the crater rim and walls.

HVO/USGS report that during the night from 14 to 15 June seismicity increased once again to about 40 events per hour, including up to 5 magnitude-3+ earthquakes per hour, many of which were felt in the nearby village of Volcano. This gradual build up continued on June 15, 2018, and resulted in over 180 seismic events between 6 am and noon, 8 of which were stronger than magnitude-3.0. Finally an explosive event occurred at 11:56 AM that produced an ash and gas plume to nearly 3050 m (10,000 ft). This explosive event was captured by the Kilauea caldera live streaming camera and a video can be seen in the FB post below

Seismicity dropped abruptly after the explosive event but then slowly started to build up again over the next hours. By the early morning of June 16, 2018, about 35 earthquakes were recorded each hour and this seismicity culminated at 10:22 AM in a subsurface explosion with energy equivalent to a magnitude-5.3 earthquake which produced a weak gas and ash emission plume that rose from Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Once the plume had cleared up, the Kilauea caldera webcam showed fresh collapse of Halemaʻumaʻu crater rim. Again, seismicity dropped abruptly right after this event but slowly increased during the day reaching 25 earthquakes per hour (magnitude

quote:

Lower East Rift Zone eruption continues with little change

Throughout the weekend, Kilauea’s lower East Rift Zone eruption persisted to vigorously effusive large amounts of lava from fissure 8 which travelled along the well established 13 km (8 mile) channel to the broad ocean entry at Kapoho

Fissure 8 continues to produce lava fountains with a pulsating height varying from 30 to 60 m (100 – 200 ft). This ongoing spattering of lava has built up an impressive cinder cone that partially encircles the fissure 8 vent and is now 51 m (170 ft) at its highest point. Lower fountains are thereby hidden from view within this cinder cone, but taller fountains are still adding fragments of lava (spatter) that continue to build the cone higher.

From the fissure 8 vent, lava flows freely over small cascades (rapids) into a well-established perched channel that travels for about 13 km (8 mi) to the ocean entry at Kapoho. Near the vent, lava is traveling about 24 km per hour (15 mi per hour) but it slows down to about 2 km per hour (1.5 mi per hour) near the ocean entry at Kapoho. Occasionally, minor amounts of lava briefly spill over the channel levees but overall the flow field seems stable with little change to its size and shape for the past few days.

There has only been a small amount of expansion of lava onto new areas at the southern boundary of the flow near the coast and south of Vacationland. As of 15 June, the total lava flow area of this eruption is 23,9 square km (9,2 square miles) and the new lava delta constructed in the ocean covers 1,3 square km (320 acres).

Apart from the vigorous lava fountaining at fissure 8, there is still lava oozing from fissures 16 and 18 which create small lava flows, some mild spattering intermittenly observed from fissures 6 and 15 and increased steaming from fissure 9.

Magma continues to be supplied to the Lower East Rift Zone but seismicity remains relatively low in the area with numerous small magnitude earthquakes and low amplitude background tremor. Higher amplitude tremor is occasionally being recorded on seismic stations close to the ocean entry. (HVO/USGS)

quote:

Magnitude Mw 5.3
Region ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
Date time 2018-06-27 08:40:40.6 UTC
Location 19.45 N ; 155.30 W
Depth 2 km
Distances 3851 km NE of Majuro, Marshall Islands / pop: 25,400 / local time: 20:40:40.6 2018-06-27
337 km SE of Honolulu, United States / pop: 372,000 / local time: 22:40:40.6 2018-06-26
38 km SW of Hilo, United States / pop: 43,300 / local time: 22:40:40.6 2018-06-26
7 km W of Volcano, United States / pop: 2,600 / local time: 22:40:40.6 2018-06-26

twitter:

USGSVolcanoes twitterde op maandag 02-07-2018 om 01:58:21 High-resolution #satellite image used to map major #cracks (yellow lines) within the #summit #caldera of #Kilauea #Volcano. Red-shaded area east of #Halemaumau is moving down within a scarp-bounded zone. Dark gray-shaded area shows the region of most significant down dropping. https://t.co/BVJ9xecjQN reageer retweet

quote:

Op donderdag 28 juni 2018 21:16 schreef DemonRage het volgende:
Een paar minuten geleden verscheen deze op twitter:

twitter:

ImagenTVPuebla twitterde op donderdag 28-06-2018 om 21:09:19 #ImagenImpactante || Nueva erupción del volcán #Kilauea provoca un #sismo de 5.2 grados. ? https://t.co/e8q4IuNawa reageer retweet

Een nieuwe eruptie van de Kilauea vulkaan heeft een aardbeving van kracht 5.2 teweeg gebracht.

twitter:

USGSVolcanoes twitterde op maandag 02-07-2018 om 14:07:01 Kīlauea Message Mon, 02 Jul 2018 02:05:35 HST: At 01:24 AM HST July 2, a collapse explosion event occurred at Kīlauea's summit. Radar indicated an ash-poor plume rose ~1200 ft above the ground surface. The energy released by the event was equivalent to a M5.3 earthquake. reageer retweet

quote:

A tiny 'island of lava' forms near Hawaii's Kilauea volcano

A small "island of lava" has popped up near Kilauea in Hawaii, as U.S. authorities continue to monitor activity at the volcano.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a field crew noticed lava oozing from this island was similar to lava near Hawaii's coastline.

The island is estimated to sit a few meters offshores, and is as wide as 30 feet in diameter.

USGS believes the island most likely formed from lava flow at fissure eight — one of 24 fissures spotted at the volcano. It might have also formed as a submarine tumulus, created when the upward pressure of slow-moving molten lava swells or pushes the overlying crust upward.

Lava from Kilauea has been spewing for more than a month, forcing evacuations. Last month, USGS said the lava was transforming into a fast-flowing river capable of covering roughly 200 yards per hour.

quote:

Kīlauea Volcano Lower East Rift Zone

Fissure 8 continues to erupt lava into the perched channel leading northeastward from the vent. The channel is full but not quite up to the rim; there were no significant overflows this morning. The southern margin of the flow remained about 1 km (0.6 mi) from Isaac Hale Park this morning. Despite no visible surface connection to the fissure 8 channel, lava continues to ooze out at several points on the 6 km (3.7 mi) wide flow front into the ocean. Explosions were reported from the main ocean entry this morning with at least one being quite strong.

Fissure 22 did not appear active this morning but sounds were heard from it last night. No other fissures are active this morning.

Pele's hair and other lightweight volcanic glass fragments from the lava fountain at Fissure 8 continue to fall downwind of the fissure, dusting the ground within a few hundred meters (yards) of the vent. High winds may waft lighter particles to greater distances. Residents are urged to minimize exposure to these volcanic particles, which can cause skin and eye irritation similar to volcanic ash.

quote:

Opvarenden toeristenboot Hawaii gewond door 'lavabom'
Zeker 23 opvarenden van een rondvaartboot zijn gewond geraakt toen een grote klont hete lava uit het water omhoogschoot en door het dak op het vaartuig terecht kwam. Het is het zwaarste ongeluk sinds de recente uitbarsting van de vulkaan Kilauea op Hawaii, zegt de brandweer.

Vier gewonden, onder wie een vrouw van in de twintig met een gebroken dijbeen, moesten worden overgebracht naar het ziekenhuis, liet de brandweercommandant weten. De anderen werden verzorgd in een lokaal medisch centrum of door de brandweer.

Sinds mei is het al onrustig op Hawaii rond de vulkaan Kilauea. Door de uitbarsting zijn zo'n zeshonderd huizen verwoest op het eiland. De autoriteiten hebben ongeveer 2500 mensen geëvacueerd.

De lavabrokstukken hebben een groot gat geboord in het dak van de boot. Ook een deel van de balustrade is beschadigd. De boot is terug naar de haven gevaren, waar de gewonden meteen opgevangen werden.

quote:

Hawaii eruption could last years, destroy new areas: geologists

(Reuters) - The eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano could last for months or years and threaten new communities on the Big Island, according to a report by U.S. government geologists.

A main risk is a possible change in the direction of a lava flow that would destroy more residential areas after at least 712 homes were torched and thousands of residents forced to evacuate since Kilauea began erupting on May 3, the report by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.

A higher volume of molten rock is flowing underground from Kilauea’s summit lava reservoir than in previous eruptions, with supply to a single giant crack — fissure 8 — showing no sign of waning, according to the study published last week.

“If the ongoing eruption maintains its current style of activity at a high eruption rate, then it may take months to a year or two to wind down,” said the report designed to help authorities on the Big Island deal with potential risks from the volcano.

Lava is bursting from same area about 25 miles (40 km) down Kilauea’s eastern side as it did in eruptions of 1840, 1955 and 1960, the report said. The longest of those eruptions was in 1955. It lasted 88 days, separated by pauses in activity.

The current eruption could become the longest in the volcano’s recorded history, it added.

Geologists believe previous eruptions may have stopped as underground lava pressure dropped due to multiple fissures opening up in this Lower East Rift Zone, the report said.

The current eruption has coalesced around a single fissure, allowing lava pressure to remain high.

A 1,300-foot-wide (400-meter) lava river now flows to the ocean from this “source cone” through an elevated channel about 52 to 72 feet (16 to 22 meters) above ground.

“The main hazard from the source cone and the channel system is a failure of the cone or channel walls, or blockage of the channel where it divides in narrower braids. Either could divert most, if not all, of the lava to a new course depending on where the breach occurs,” the report said.

The report said it only considered risks from a change in lava flow direction to communities to the north of the channel as residents there have not been evacuated, whereas residents to the south have already left their homes.

twitter:

NewEarthquake twitterde op vrijdag 27-07-2018 om 00:52:11 5.3 volcanic eruption, 4km SW of Volcano, Hawaii. 2018-07-26 12:09:11 at epicenter (43m ago, depth 0.2km). https://t.co/qMcvGftbhl reageer retweet

quote:

Volcano Hawaii quiets after months long eruption
After more than three months, the volcanic eruption on Hawaii's Big Island appears to be slowing.

Geologists at the Hawaiian Volcanic Observatory say the flow of lava from a crack in the earth at the foot of the Kilauea volcano has greatly diminished in recent days. It was lava from that vent, Fissure 8, that ran toward the coast in a molten river, inundating two seaside communities and reshaping the island's southeast coast.

That doesn't mean the event is over. Tina Neal, the scientist in charge of the observatory, noted that eruptions like this typically wax and wane.

"It could be weeks or months before we feel comfortable calling the eruption and the summit collapse over," she said in a press release.

Still, any reprieve is welcome news to the residents of the Big Island's Puna District, who have been living in a state of uncertainty since the eruption began on May 3.

During the eruption, lava flows stopped and started from dozens of fissures, destroying homes and rendering roads impassable. Lava bombs rained on residents and injured nearly two dozen people on a tourist boat. Eruptions from Halemaumau crater, the volcano's summit, rattled the earth and forced the closure of much of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The park's closure and fear of the eruption sent ripples through the Big Island's tourism-dependent economy.

For much of the past two months, attention has focused on Fissure 8, which spewed and gushed lava while others quieted. Lava from the fissure formed a channel that carried it toward the island's southeast coast, where it has been entering the ocean, sending spectacular plumes of steam and laze — a mix of hydrochloric acid and steam with fine glass particles — into the air.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says that activity and lava output from Fissure 8 lessened in recent days and remains low.

The slowdown couldn't have come at a better time. State officials and residents are now preparing for the effects of Hurricane Hector, which is expected to pass south of the Big Island on Wednesday. The storm has weakened but is still forecast to potentially bring big swell, high winds and rain.

quote:

Hawaii national parks reopens after lava shut it

HONOLULU (AP) -- A national park in Hawaii has reopened after being closed for more than four months because of Kilauea volcano's latest eruption, which caused widespread damage to park infrastructure and dramatically changed its landscape.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park officials said there were no lines or waiting for visitors to catch a glimpse of the volcano that made headlines across the world when it began erupting in May. Admission is free Saturday.

The eruption destroyed hundreds of homes outside the park while changing the popular summit crater inside the park.

The caldera quadrupled in size, collapsed about 1,500 feet as lava drained out of the active vent.

quote:

Hawaii volcano eruption ALERT: Kilauea volcano wakes up - Fissure 8 sparks
HAWAII is once again under threat from the Kilauea volcano, as the once violently erupting stratovolcano has woken up. Latest reports show the volcano has once again begun to fume.

Kilauea volcano once plagued Hawaii’s Big Island, where starting from May 1, the volcano spewed tonnes of lava onto the island’s surface.

After more than two months of continuous eruption, the volcano significantly calmed, and authorities lowered warning levels from red to orange.

People are just starting to return to their homes after evacuation notices were lifted, and magma is cooling.

But today The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has noted the volcano has once again begun to fume, and have it under an orange 'watch' warning.

Kilauea has once again started to show activity, after a month of rapid calm and relative stillness.

The USGS has recently put out their daily report monitoring the volcano, and have noted smoke emerging from one of the previously active fissures.

Fissure 8, which was explosive during Kilauea’s last eruption, has been spotted fuming over the last few days.

The report has not mentioned the composition of the fumes, but lava activity from within the fissures is likely what caused it.

quote:

Kilauea Volcano's 35-Year Eruption Streak May Be Over

The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has been erupting almost continuously for the last 35 years. But that streak may be coming to an end.

A lead scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory told CNN in an exclusive interview that the volcano hasn't produced lava in three months. It had one of its bigger eruptions in May of this year, forcing evacuations and covering 14 miles of the Big Island in lava.

The USGS scientist told CNN the recent pause could be caused by a number of things, including a lack of magma from this year's eruption or, simply, that there just isn't enough pressure to push what magma there is to the surface.

This pause may mark the end of Kilauea's current erupting activity. That just means that when it does erupt again, it will mark a new eruptive event. And scientists don't know how, when or where exactly it could happen.

In a post on the USGS website, one scientist listed the many things a new eruptive event could bring — explosive eruptions, a new lava lake or even a decreased supply of magma so the "quiet" continues for years.

But nothing is certain, and the Kilauea volcano could just continue eruptions like the one earlier this year.

quote:

End Of An Era At Pu’u O’o

One of the most frequent questions asked of USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) scientists the last several months has been, “Is the Lower East Rift eruption over?” But the same question could – and should – be asked of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption.

On January 3rd, 2018, we marked the 35th anniversary of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. For the past three and a half decades, lava has erupted almost continuously from the middle East Rift Zone (ERZ). Minor pauses in surface activity mostly occurred between the fountaining episodes in 1983 – 1986, and subsequently during a few episodes marked by subsidiary fissures, intrusions, or partial crater floor collapses.

Given the longevity of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption, we’d grown accustomed to the luxury of having nearly-uninterrupted access to lava. The lure of reliable lava viewing beckoned to millions of tourists around the globe. But, I say “nearly-uninterrupted” because there have been over one hundred brief pauses in surface activity throughout the 35-year-long event, most lasting hours to a couple days. The six longest pauses during the Puʻu ʻŌʻō activity were each 1 to 2-months-long, and all occurred between fountaining episodes in the first two years.

Specifically, long pauses between fountains occurred spanning episodes 3 and 4 (65 days), episodes 32 and 33 (52 days), episodes 12 and 13 (50 days), episodes 39 and 40 (49 days), episodes 25 and 26 (43 days), and episodes 31 and 32 (38 days).

After the fountaining episodes, there were several Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption pauses lasting between one week and one month.

Specifically, there was a 10 day pause in February of 1992 after the Kupaianaha vent shut down, ending episodes 48. A year later there was an eight day pause in February of 1993 after an uprift intrusion cause Puʻu ʻŌʻō’s crater floor to collapse. A nine day pause in February of 1996 occurred after an observed surge in effusion rate.

The longest eruption hiatus after the fountaining phase lasted 24 days following the episode 54 fissure in Nāpau Crater in February of 1997. In September 1999, there was an 11-day pause during episode 55 after a partial collapse of the Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater floor.

Most recently, there were two pauses in 2011: an 18-day-long pause after the March Kamoamoa fissure, and a six day long pause after the episode 60 west flank break out in August.

However, on April 30th, 2018 – everything changed. The catastrophic collapse of Puʻu ʻŌʻō has left the iconic eruption site and surrounding lava flow fields devoid of lava through the rest of 2018. December 30th marked the seven month anniversary of no surface activity at Puʻu ʻŌʻō and is effectively a concluding milestone for this long-lived event.

As a refresher from our previous article, the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program (GVP) classifies the end of continuous volcanic activity based on an absence of eruptive activity over a 90 day (three month) period.

Statistically, after a 210 day (7 month) gap in activity, it is extremely unlikely that lava will resume activity within Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Based on historical knowledge of rift zone eruptions, pauses lasting more than 3½ months have ended their respective eruption.

Given the GVP criterion, no signs of imminent unrest, and that December 30th, 2018 marks 7 months of no lava, then the Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption could be considered over. The 36th anniversary of continuous eruption, on January 3, 2019, will not come to pass.

This does not mean Kīlauea Volcano is dead. New eruptions have previously begun elsewhere on Kīlauea after months to decades of quiet. Magma is being supplied to the volcano, and deformation data shows evidence for movement of molten rock through the magmatic system, refilling the middle ERZ. It’s important to note that Kīlauea is still an active volcano that will erupt in the future, and associated hazards have not changed. When a new eruption does occur, ground cracking, gas emissions, seismicity, and deformation can increase rapidly.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor Kīlauea Volcano through ground-based observations, helicopter overflights, and geophysical instrument networks. Significant changes will be noted in HVO’s weekly updates