Photo & Video Chronology - Kilauea Archive

15 May 2002

Distal Mother's Day flow

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Left. Lava of the Mother's Day flow moves into forest bordering the west side of the Pu`u `O`o flow field in late morning. Previous fires have killed trees along the edge of the forest, and grass has since returned. Pu`u `O`o in background. Right. Narrow streams of lava in the Mother's Day flow. The lava is crossing older, darker pahoehoe. In background is `a`a and burned forest.

21 May 2002

Lava mostly fills Puka Nui

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Lava flows erupted in the past several weeks have mostly filled the collapse pit, Puka Nui, on the southwest flank of Pu`u `O`o. Since early April, lava has both welled up into Puka Nui and spilled into and across the pit. Comparison of these two images shows the continuing drama on the flank of Pu`u `O`o. Both views are toward the north-northeast. Left: 21 May 2002. Note large red-colored boulders atop the recent flows; the boulders fell from the steep talus that forms the northeast wall of Puka Nui. Right: 6 December 2001.  Note the deep right-most pit of Puka Nui, visible in this view, that is now completely filled in the May 21 view.

Mother's Day flow

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Left: Close view of a skylight along the Mother's Day flow within a few hundred meters of its source southwest of Pu`u O`o. Right: Two lobes of the Mother's Day flow about 5.6 km from Pu`u `O`o at the 1700-foot elevation. The flows are slowly spreading through rainforest of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. This view is toward the northeast; the flow field is visible in upper right.

HALP flow

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Early morning view of the HALP lava flow approaching the upper roads of the Royal Gardens subdivision.

23 May 2002

HALP flow moves into Royal Gardens

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Two views of the HALP flow entering the upper edge of beleaguered Royal Gardens subdivision. Smoke at the leading edge of the flow is just west of Warrior Street. An abandoned house, hidden by the dense forest, is near the intersection of Warrior and Ekaha Streets.

Mother's Day flow

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The shiny active flow, which began on Mother's Day, extends from lower right to upper center of photo, entering forest along the edge of older pahoehoe. Smoke comes from burning forest near the flow front in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. About 880 acres have been burned. The map below shows the course of this flow, farther west than any other flow of the eruption.

27 May 2002

Western tongue of Mother's Day flow

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Two views of the western front of the Mother's Day flow, moving through light forest and brush. Note the firebreak cut by national park workers in the right image.

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Breakout near point where western tongue of Mother's Day flow splits off from trunk stream. In left view, note the fire high in the largest tree. In right view, contrast burning wood (foreground) with incandescence of the lava.

HALP flow

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Smoke rises from fires along HALP flow. The front of the flow is making a left turn (east) onto Ekaha Street from Warrior Street, which leads down from the top of Royal Gardens subdivision. Compare with images on May 23; the abandoned house has been destroyed. Pu`u `O`o is in upper left; slopes of Mauna Loa and more distant Mauna Kea are in upper center and right.

28 May 2002

Leading edge of Mother's Day flow

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Leading edge of Mother's Day flow moves through brush and forest at 0730.

30 May 2002

HALP flow in upper Royal Gardens subdivision at 1115

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Left. Looking northeast along Ekaha Street toward intersection with Warrior. The top of the far stop sign is barely visible on the left side in large view. Note how vegetation has encroached on the road since the subdivision was abandoned more than a decade ago. Right. Looking southwest toward intersection of Ekaha Street with arterial Warrior Street. Lava is barely flowing but is hot enough to ignite the asphalt.

31 May 2002

Skylight in upper Mother's Day flow

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A skylight in the master lava tube high in the Mother's Day flow, several hundred meters from the vent. The skylight is several meters across. The tube is nearly full.

Mother's Day flow on Pulama pali

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Left. Dark Jason flow, erupted in early 1995, descends Pulama pali on right. Smoky, active tongues of the Mother's Day flow are farther west (left). Right. Nearly vertical view of narrow stream of Mother's Day flow on Pulama pali moving through forest, from top to bottom of view. Helicopter skid in foreground.

Map shows lava flows erupted during the 1983-present activity of Pu`u `O`o and Kupaianaha (see large map). The flows between January and April 2002 were fed by several rootless shields located directly above the lava tube at elevations between 2,200 and 2,050 feet. Flows in May (shown in red) originate from two sources, the area of the rootless shields and an area just southwest of Pu`u `O`o. The two flows from the rootless shields are the Boundary flow, along the edge of the national park, and the HALP flow, which is approaching the uppermost part of Royal Gardens subdivision on May 21. The HALP flow entered the subdivision during the night of May 22-23. From near Pu`u `O`o, the Mother's Day flow passes along the west side of the flow field and into the forest. The most recent ocean entries at East Kupapa`u and Kamoamoa stopped in mid January and late January respectively.

Eruption-viewing opportunities change constantly, refer to the HVO home page for current information. Those readers planning a visit to Kilauea or Mauna Loa volcanoes can get much useful information from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.