Three months have passed without volcanic activity on the Big Island’s lower East Rift Zone. By the standard of at least one scientific institution, that marks the end of the eruption that began May 3 and covered 6,000 acres of land in Lower Puna, destroyed 720 homes and isolated 1,600 acres of farmland.
Hawaii County planned Thursday to reinstate public access to the Leilani Estates subdivision, which took the brunt of the eruption.
But also on Thursday, Mayor Harry Kim declared that the state of emergency is not yet over.
In his sixth supplementary emergency proclamation since May, he declared, “This eruptive event continues to exist and continues to pose threat of imminent disaster on Hawaii Island.”
He emphasized that it is still illegal for people to be “loitering, loafing or idling on the lava flow field.”
Kim’s declaration adds to the speculation about what comes next for the volcano.
Lava from Kilauea’s lower East Rift Zone in Lower Puna was last seen Sept. 4, which means Wednesday marked a three-month period of no lava activity.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program classifies the end of continuous volcanic activity following a three-month period.
“The eruption could be considered over by that criterion,” said Matthew Patrick, a geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
The area continues to experience low-level earthquakes of less than magnitude 3, and underground magma continues to flow into Kilauea’s middle East Rift Zone, he said.
While he said there are no imminent eruptions, he emphasized that Kilauea is still very active.
“It’s gone through pauses in the past. Kilauea most likely will erupt again, eventually.”
When Kilauea erupts again, “ground cracking, gas emissions, seismicity, and deformation can rapidly change,” HVO said in its latest update Thursday.
But given Kilauea’s history, HVO called the chance of imminent renewed activity along the lower East Rift Zone “very unlikely.”
Kilauea has stopped and restarted before, including the eruption of Mauna Ulu from 1969 to 1974, which saw activity resume following a pause of 3-1/2 months.
Kilauea’s Puu Oo eruption also saw 44 gaps of activity between 1983 to 1986 that ranged from hours to 65 days, HVO said. Six of the pauses lasted between one and two months.
“While the (lower East Rift Zone) eruption might be over, Kilauea volcano is not dead,” HVO said. “There can, and will, be a new eruption — it’s just a matter of when and where. Kilauea’s current lack of activity does not change the hazards faced by those of us living on an active volcano.”
Board ponders new name for fissure 8
The 60-foot-tall cone of Kilauea’s most destructive fissure — fissure 8 at the end of Leilani Avenue — might get a new name.
The Hawaii Board of Geographic Names has begun taking recommendations from the public — including Hawaiian cultural practitioners — and hopes to have an official name by the end of next summer, according to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
The board’s original purpose is to clarify spelling on official documents, according to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. So this would be the first instance naming a new land form.
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Star-Advertiser staff
