View inside fissure 8 on Kīlauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone

This morning's helicopter overflight confirmed a significant reduction in lava output from fissure 8, in Kīlauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone. HVO field geologists observed low levels of fountaining within the fissure 8 spatter cone and crusted lava in the spillway and channel system downstream. The significance of this change is not yet clear. Eruptions can wax and wane or pause completely, and a return to high levels of lava discharge or new outbreaks in the area of the active fissures could occur at any time.