Images

Lava fountains from Fissure 20 cover residential neighborhoods and farmland in Kīlauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone (Hawaii). The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory tracked eruptive activity and provided updates to emergency officials. Photo taken May 19, 2018, by Elise Rumpf.

Aerial view of the lowermost section of the active fissure system during an overflight early this morning. The view is looking toward the south; note ocean at top of photo. Fissure 17 is the on the left-hand side of photo; fissure 18 is in the middle; and fissure 20 are the two low fountaining areas in the middle right of photo.

Map as of 1:00 pm HST, May 18. Shaded purple areas indicate lava flows erupted in 1840, 1955, 1960, and 2014-2015.

This morning, the line of fountains on fissure 17 coalesced into a large fountain that was sending lava 50 meters (164 feet) into the air, with small bits of spatter thrown up to 100 meters (328 feet) high. At about 12:00 p.m. HST, HVO geologists flying over the area reported that fissure 17 was going strong

Fissure 18 generated a channelized lava flow that had advanced about 1 km (0.6 mi) along the west side of fissure 17 as of about noon today.

Aerial view of the lowermost section of the active fissure system during an overflight early this morning.

Lava from fissure 15 also covered the Pohiki water line.

View of the fissure system in Leilani Estates looking southwest (uprift). Fissure 17 is the lava fountain at bottom of photo, estimated to be about 50 m (164 ft) high with occasional bursts to about 100 m high (328 ft).

This image, captured during an HVO overflight around noon today, shows a lava flowthat crossed Pohoiki Road earlier.

Closer view of fissure 17 (middle photo) and fissure 18 (left side photo) during this morning's overflight of the area. View is toward the south.

Mount St. Helens erupted 38 years ago, May 18, 1980 

Technicians deploy water-quality instrumentation on Bear Lake platforms

At about 07:00 a.m. HST, Fissure 17 as shown from the air. The HVO field crew reported that the spattering height and intensity at Fissure 17 seemed to have intensified slightly from yesterday, but the length of active spattering in the fissure is shorter.

Aerial view of ground cracks on Pohoiki Road during an overflight of the eruptive fissurearea at about 7 a.m. HST. Cracks continued to open and widen, some with horizontal and vertical offsets, in the area during the past 24 hours.

The Fissure 17 flow front has slowed substantially with only small amounts of pasty "toothpaste" lava oozing out from the flow front. However lava continues to be erupted from the active fissure.

HVO geologist next to cracks on Nohea Street in Leilani Estates this morning. These cracks expanded significantly in the past day. Note the vertical offset across the cracks.

Fissure 17 as seen from the air on Monday, May 17, around 7:00 a.m. HST, when the overall vigor of fissure appeared to have dropped from the previous two days. Twenty fissures have erupted in the lower Puna District on the Island of Hawai‘i as of May 17, and additional fissures could still open as this eruption on Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone continues.

Radar image of the May 17, 2018 eruption of ash from Halema‘uma‘u Crater. This image is a slice through the cloud at an altitude of 14,000 ft (4 km) above sea level at 4:12 a.m., HST. The colors scale is radar reflectivity, a measure of the size of the particles and their concentration within the ash cloud.

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Close view of rock hurled from the Overlook crater during an explosive event last evening. The rock broke apart on impact, and was about 60 cm (24 in) before it hit the ground. The location is a few hundred meters (yards) south of the Overlook crater at the Halema‘uma‘u parking lot.

Map shows the location of the lava flow spreading from fissure 17 as of 7:00 a.m. HST, May 16. The flow is following a path of steepest descent (blue line) south of a 1955 'a'ā flow. Shaded purple areas indicate lava flows erupted in 1840, 1955, 1960, and 2014-2015.