Unified Interior Regions

The eruption from the episode 51 vents has continued without interruption since October 2. The flows have now advanced to within 300 feet of the Chain of Craters Road inside Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The flows advanced over the pali during the last week-and-a-half and came within a quarter of a mile of Chain of Craters Road by early this week. 

The 10-year long eruption of Kīlauea Volcano continues from the episode 51 vents located on the west flank of the Pu`u `O`o cone. The flows advanced slowly from October 3 until October 28, when they began to flow over the pali above Kamoamoa.
 

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory studies mainly the current activity of Hawai`i's volcanoes, and our eruption forecasts are limited to the short-term future (hours, days, months, sometimes a few years). 

The last two weeks have been particularly busy on Kīlauea Volcano. On October 2, starting about 3:30 p.m., the tremor near Pu`u `O`o began to increase, and it appeared as if another phase of the episode 51 eruption would be under way soon.

Over the years, scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory have developed good techniques for short-term eruption predictions (a few hours to a few days' warning) for Kīlauea and Mauna Loa Volcanoes. However, our capabilities for long-term predictions consist predominantly of educated guesswork. 

The U.S Geological Survey has recently published a new, full-sized map which defines the boundaries of nine lava flow hazard zones on the island. This map is an updated version of the page-sized map included in the USGS booklet Volcanic and Seismic Hazards on the Island of Hawaii published in 1990. 

Residents of Pahala felt a small earthquake (magnitude 3.7) at 10:22 p.m. on September 10. This earthquake was located a few miles northwest of the town and about 6 miles deep. Although the earthquake caused no damage, this was the site of the largest historic earthquake in Hawaii, which occurred in 1868. 

"With all the lava being erupted, is there a large, empty space within the Earth where the lava came from?" This is a frequent question answered by the staff of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and the answer is "no."
 

The episode 51 vents have been continuously active since early in the morning on July 27. The active vents are located just west of the Pu`u `O`o cinder and spatter cone on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano. Episode 51 has been characterized by intermittent activity since it began on March 7.
 

To the non-geologist, lava is hot, orange molten rock, or when cooled, smooth and gray, or black and jagged rock. However, to the geologist or volcanologist, lava contains a set of clues to decipher processes occurring in the interior of the Earth and the volcano.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's primary purpose is to understand how volcanic systems operate. All of the work we do in defining geological hazards posed by the volcanoes, and short-term monitoring of eruptions and lava flows, is made possible by developing this fundamental understanding of volcanic systems.