USGS Volcano Notice - DOI-USGS-HVO-2018-09-09T12:08:29-07:00

HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE
U.S. Geological Survey
Sunday, September 9, 2018, 9:40 AM HST (Sunday, September 9, 2018, 19:40 UTC)

KILAUEA VOLCANO (VNUM #332010)
19°25'16" N 155°17'13" W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

On Kīlauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone (LERZ), minor amounts of incandescence and fume continue to be visible within the fissure 8 cone. Small lava flows have been observed within the fissure 8 cone, however none have extended outside the walls of the cone. There is no change in overall activity from observations over the past several days.

Seismicity and ground deformation remain low at the summit of Kīlauea. Small aftershocks from the magnitude-6.9 earthquake in early May continue to occur on faults located on Kīlauea's South Flank.

Yesterday, Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater experienced a series of small collapses. These produced episodes of visible brown plume throughout the day (the most prominent at about 10:30AM HST) and generated small tilt offsets and seismic energy recorded by nearby geophysical instruments. The collapses had no discernable effect on other parts of the rift, though we will continue to monitor for longer-term changes.

Tiltmeters in Kīlauea's middle East Rift Zone continue to record small amounts of inflationary tilt, which may be a sign of refilling of the rift zone. The rates have been steady over the past week and did not show a short-term change following yesterday’s collapses at Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emission rates at the summit, Puʻu ʻŌʻō, and LERZ are drastically reduced; the combined rate is less than 1,000 tonnes/day, which is lower than at any time since late 2007. SO₂ emission rates from LERZ vents were below 20 tonnes/day when measured on September 5th, close to the detection threshold of the measurement technique.

MORE INFORMATION

Subscribe to these messages: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns2/

Webcam images: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_webcams.html

Photos/Video: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_chronology.html

Lava Flow Maps: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html

Definitions of terms used in update: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/definitions.pdf

Overview of Kīlauea summit (Halemaʻumaʻu) and East Rift Zone (Puʻu ʻŌʻō ) eruptions:
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/background.pdf

Summary of volcanic hazards from Kīlauea eruptions:
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/hazards.pdf

Recent Earthquakes in Hawai'i (map and list):
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/earthquakes/

Explanation of Volcano Alert Levels and Aviation Color Codes:
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/alertsystem/index.php
https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3139/

CONTACT INFORMATION:

askHVO@usgs.gov

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is one of five volcano observatories within the U.S. Geological Survey and is responsible for monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawai`i.