Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Flow front slows down on the coastal plain

Detailed Description

After rapidly advancing across about half of the coastal plain, the flow front slowed considerably over the past day. The front moved only moved about 90 m (300 feet) since yesterday's mapping, and activity at the leading tip of the flow was fairly weak today. The position of the lava flow front relative to the shoreline can be seen in this aerial photograph. The leading edge of the flow, which was 1.1 km (0.7 miles) from the ocean today, is the light-colored area near the center of the image.

More vigorous breakouts were active upslope, near the base of the pali. Fume from the lava tubes and smoke from burning vegetation are visible on the pali in the upper part of the photo. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is visible on the upper left skyline.