Kilauea volcano put on another spectacular show Friday night with lava fountaining in Halemaumau crater reaching new heights for the latest eruption, which began nearly 10 months ago.
Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said that Episode 35 of the ongoing eruption began at about 8:05 p.m. with 500-foot-plus lava fountains from the north vent.
“The fountains rapidly grew to about 500 feet when the south vent began erupting at 8:50 p.m.,” geologists said. “The south vent fountains grew rapidly and within 20 minutes equaled the north vent fountains in size.”
By 10 p.m., the south vent fountain was just under 1,500 feet high and the north vent fountains were about 1,100 feet, which “would be the highest single fountain and highest pair of fountains seen during this eruption,” they said.
The plume of gas above the fountains extended to over 16,000 feet above ground level, USGS said.
Hawaii County Civil Defense reported that tephra was falling on Highway 11 southwest of the vents, officials said late Friday night. “Elevated gas levels and tephra is occurring in the area and downwind of the eruption. Avoid the area if you are sensitive to respiratory condition,” officials said. “Know that tephra is fine glass particles that will irritate the skin and eyes. Take precautions to limit your exposure. There are no other threats to the community at this time.”
Episode 35 ended abruptly early Saturday after 7-1/2 hours of continuous lava fountaining, scientists said. The south vent stopped erupting at about 3:29 a.m. followed by the north vent at 3:32 a.m., they said.
The latest episode of the Kilauea volcano eruption produced an estimated 13 million cubic yards of lava, which covered about two-thirds of the crater floor, according to HVO geologists. They said volcanic gas emissions “have greatly decreased and are probably near normal noneruptive levels.”
The on-again, off-again Kilauea eruption began Dec. 23 with all lava activity confined to Halemaumau crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Most episodes of the lava fountaining since the start of the eruption have continued for around a day or less and have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity of at least several days, geologists said.
The Kilauea alert level remains “watch,” while the aviation color code remains orange, officials said. No changes have been detected in the volcano’s east or southwest rift zones.
Source: The Garden Island
Be First to Comment