Kilauea’s 13th episode ends after 12 hours of lava fountains
COURTESY USGS
Lava fountains of 400 to 500 feet high shoot up within the west vent in Halemaumau Crater today.
UPDATE: Tuesday, 4:15 p.m.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists say episode 13 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended at 3:13 p.m.Tuesday.
The north vent ceased fountaining abruptly at 3:11 p.m., and subsequently, the south fountain became unsteady and also ceased activity by 3:13 p.m., HVO said
“Episode 13 fountaining lasted for 12 hours and 37 minutes, and lava flows have covered more than 60% of Halemaumau crater floor,” according to HVO.
This morning, Pele’s hair reportedly fell in Pahala about 25 miles southwest of Halemaumau.
The Kilauea volcano alert level remains at watch, and the aviation color code remains at orange.
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Kilauea’s 13th episode of the current eruption began early Tuesday at 2:36 a.m., bringing lava fountains of 400 to 500 feet high, according to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists.
Scientists said the latest episode of lava fountaining was preceded by small, sporadic spatter fountains of 15 to 30 feet high starting at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday within the north vent.
The spatter fountains continued to increase in intensity and by 6:35 p.m. Thursday, spattering could be seen on the streaming webcam.
The spattering increased overnight — and lava erupted from the north vent at 2:36 a.m., with high fountains beginning about 10 minutes later, HVO scientists said.
As of 3:30 a.m., the fountains had reached heights of 400 to 500 feet. HVO estimated lava flows from the north vent have covered 20% to 30% of the Halemaumau Crater floor.
The previous episode occurred a week ago. Each episode of the ongoing eruption, which began Dec. 23, has continued for between 13 hours to 8 days, separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting from less than 24 hours to 12 days, according to HVO.
All episodes of this eruption have been confined to Halemaumau Crater within Kaluapele, the summit caldera, of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
No significant changes have been noted along Kilauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.
The Kilauea volcano alert level remains at watch, and the aviation color code remains at orange.
A livestream of the Kilauea summit is available at this link Opens in a new tab.
