Kilauea Volcano erupts in remote area

UPDATE:

8:45 p.m.

Kilauea Volcano resumed erupting this evening on the middle East Rift Zone.

The eruption, which began about 6 p.m., is occurring within a closed and remote area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory officials said the volcano alert level for ground-based hazards remains at “watch” and the aviation color code remains at “orange” at this time.

Officials said the eruption does not currently pose an immediate threat to human life or infrastructure.

Chain of Craters Road, which is located downslope and downwind of the erupting fissures, remains closed.

Residents of nearby subdivisions may experience volcanic gas emissions related to this activity, which may wax and wane over the coming days, officials said.

Current activity is restricted to Kilaueaʻs middle East Rift Zone. Rates of seismicity and ground deformation beneath the lower East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone remain low.

Scientists said “high level of volcanic gas — primarily water vapor and sulfur dioxide — are emitted during eruptions and can have far-reaching effects downwind.”

The scientists said that as sulfur dioxide is released, it reacts in the atmosphere to create volcanic smog, or vog, and create the potential for airborne health hazards to residents and visitors, damage agricultural crops and other plants, and affect livestock.

If new lava flows cover and burn vegetation and soil, they can ignite natural gas pockets in the subsurface, which can cause methane explosions, scientists said. These explosions can blast lava fragments up to several yards away and can be hazardous to observers.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is continuing to closely monitor the middle East Rift Zone and is in contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency.

Numerous eruptions took place in Kilauea’s middle East Rift Zone during the 1960s to 1970s. Most of these eruptions lasted from less than one day to about two weeks.

EARLIER:

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory officials have raised the alert levels for a potential eruption at Kilauea and have closed Chain of Craters Road “due to heightened gas emissions and volcanic unrest.”

Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey agency early today raised the volcano alert level for ground-based hazards from advisory to watch and the aviation color code from yellow to orange.

Kilauea volcano erupted between 9 and 10 pm. Sunday west of the Napau Crater along the park’s middle East Rift Zone. The eruption is over, but officials are evaluating potential impacts to the trail, pulu factory site and the vegetation on site.

“Current activity is taking place in a remote area of Kilauea’s middle East Rift Zone, within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. No changes have been detected in the lower East Rift Zone, or Southwest Rift Zone,” HVO scientists said.

“While the intensity of earthquake activity has decreased, continued ground deformation changes show that magma is still moving beneath the ground from summit storage chambers to the area between Maunaulu and Makaopuhi Crater,” they said just after midnight.

Although Kilauea is not currently erupting, they noted that “numerous eruptions took place in this area during the 1960s–1970s, most of which lasted less than one day to about two weeks.”