Chain of Craters Road closed as Kilauea volcano alert raised
COURTESY USGS
Smoke and steam rise from an area of a new Kilauea eruption site surrounded by forest.
COURTESY HVO
This map from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory shows recent deformation at Kilauea between Sept. 2-14. According to HVO: Colored fringes denote areas of ground deformation, with more fringes indicating more deformation. Each color cycle represents 2.8 cm (1.1 in) of ground motion. The symbol in the upper left indicates the satellite’s orbit direction (arrow) and look direction (bar). The butterfly-shaped feature between Pauahi and Makaopuhi Craters on the middle East Rift Zone indicates ground surface extension over this time period as magma intruded underground.
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.”
