Images

After slowly moving downslope from Kīlauea Volcano’s East Rift Zone since June 27, 2014, this active lava flow in Hawaiʻi reached the town of Pāhoa just before Halloween, destroying roads, a cemetery, and private property in this community.

Some of the flow front had the appearance of "slabby" pāhoehoe, which is the type of pāhoehoe in which the surface consists of numerous broken, overturned slabs.

A section of the flow margin near the flow front, showing a continuous horizontal incandescent crack that indicates ongoing flow inflation. HVO geologist for scale. The flow here was only about a meter thick, but slightly farther upslope where the lava has had more time to inflate the thickness was closer to two meters.

One of the rotated surface slabs presses against the fencing that runs along the small road to the cemetery.

An HVO geologist maps the margin of the June 27th lava flow in the open field below AP‘A‘ā Street / Cemetery Road.

An HVO geologist walks across the surface of the flow, which covers the short access road to the cemetery. As is typical for pāhoehoe, the flow has inflated over the past day and was chest high in many places.

This map uses a satellite image acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base to show the area around the front of the June 27th lava flow. The area of the flow on October 24, 2014, at 12:10 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 25 at 5:00 PM is shown in red.

This map uses a satellite image acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base to show the area around the front of the June 27th lava flow. The area of the flow on October 25, 2014, at 5:00 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 26 at 12:30 PM is shown in red.

An HVO geologist takes a GPS waypoint at the flow front. This measurement is done sequentially throughout the day to measure flow advance rates. The flow front was moving through tall grass in an open field downslope of AP‘A‘ā St. today.

At 11 AM Saturday, the June 27th flow was advancing down the grassy driveway that leads to the Pāhoa cemetery. This view is looking upslope towards AP‘A‘ā Street along the cemetery driveway.

The June 27th lava flow advances across the pasture between the Pāhoa cemetery and AP‘A‘ā Street, surrounding a barbed wire fence.

Kīlauea's June 27th lava flow crosses AP‘A‘ā road west of Pāhoa Village, Hawai‘i. Dark smoke is from burning asphalt. Telephone pole upper right is wrapped in insulation then a barrier of cinder.

The June 27th lava flow crossed AP‘A‘ā Street / Cemetery Road at 3:50 AM, HST, Saturday morning, October 25, 2014. In this photo, which was taken at about 9 AM Saturday, the flow is moving from right to left, with burning asphalt visible along it's NW margin. A utility pole, far right, was surrounded by lava but remained standing at the time of the photo.

A small shed is consumed by lava in the pasture between the Pāhoa cemetery and AP‘A‘ā Street.

This small-scale map shows the June 27th lava flow in Kīlauea's East Rift Zone in relation to lower Puna. The area of the flow on October 22, 2014, at 1:50 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 24 at 12:10 PM is shown in red.

This map uses a satellite image acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base to show the area around the front of the June 27th lava flow. The area of the flow on October 22, 2014, at 1:50 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 24 at 12:10 PM is shown in red.

Another view of the flow front and Cemetery Rd./AP‘A‘ā St., looking east. The flow front is entering an open pasture.

HVO geologists can be seen in the pasture mapping the flow front position.

A wider view of the flow front, and its position relative to Pāhoa. This morning the flow front was 1.2 km (0.7 miles) from Pāhoa Village Road, as measured along a straight line. Pāhoa Village Road is at the bottom of the photograph.

Another view of the two lobes that make up the flow front. Vehicles for scale.

Just upslope of the flow front, the flow can be seen here parallel to the dirt road. The flow in this section was only about 30 m (100 feet) wide.