Images

By early this morning, the front of the ‘A‘ā flow fed from the western vent had intercepted the edge of the Mother's Day flow, which was emplaced in 2002-2004. The flow advanced about 2.9 km (1.8 miles) in 30 hours.

With lava retreating deeper into the Halema‘uma‘u vent cavity over the past two days, the cavity walls have experienced more frequent collapses. At 2:23pm today, a collapse from the upper portion of the vent cavity produced a robust brown plume, but did not eject any large particles.

Measuring the thickness of an ‘A‘ā flow produced by the Kamoamoa fissure eruption. The measuring stick is 2 m (6.5 ft) tall.

A massive earthquake, and subsequent tsunami, struck the northeast coast of Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011. The USGS calculated the magnitude of the earthquake as a 9.0, the fourth largest ever recorded. The tsunami that followed was over 10 meters high in places.

Map showing the extent of the active flows. Reddish-brown is the flow as mapped on February 4, 2011, while bright red shows the advancement of the flow from January 13-February 4. Small ocean entries remains active at the front of both the western and eastern branches of the flow.

This fissure began in the early hours of March 6, erupting spatter and producing lava flows.

Spatter reaching up to 30 m (100 ft) from a fissure that opened this morning.

View looking along recently opened fissure segment crossing tephra flats SW of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, which is in the background.

Map showing the extent of the "July 2007 eruption", or Episode 58, flow field relative to surrounding communities. Reddish-brown is the active flow as mapped on January 13, 2011, while bright red shows the advancement of the flow from January 13-February 4. Light red represents older flows erupted during Episode 58 of the ongoing East Rift Zone eruption.

Increased activity on one of the new fissures between Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Crater and Nāpau.

Ash cloud rising from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō as crater floor collapses due to magma withdrawal. Incandescent rubble can be seen crumbling and rolling down the scarp. The east rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is in the foreground.

View to the SW at the new fissure eruption between Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and Nāpau. Cracks in the foreground could be seen opening as photo was being taken.

Close-up of just-opened fissure segment at NE tip of propagating fissure. Spatter reaching 5 m into the air.

New fissure eruption SW of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō between Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and Nāpau crater. Spatter is reaching 15-20 m into the air, above the trees. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō in the background.

Map showing the extent of the active flows of the Kamoamoa eruption, which started on March 5, 2011. Bright red shows the currently active flow, and light red shows an incomplete mapping of recent, but inactive, flows. Dark gray is the exposed area of flows erupted between 1983 and 1992, while light gray shows the extent of flows erupted from 1992 to 2007.

Map showing the location of the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent, and subsequent closures due to the eruption. The Overlook vent and volcano's summit are located within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

At 2:31pm today, another large chunk of the rim collapsed into the Halema‘uma‘u lava lake.

Just moments after the last photograph, the 2:31pm collapse produced a thick brown plume, but did not appear to trigger an explosive event in this case.

Lava spatters above the fissure just west of the base of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Most of the day's activity was focused at this vent, around which a low cone was forming. Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is visible in the background to the northeast.

Lava pours from the fissure just after daybreak and cascades out of sight into a deep crack. HVO geologist near upper right for perspective.