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(Activity updates are written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

Lava cascades down the east flank of Pu‘u ‘O‘o cone from a fissure that opened on the upper east flank early Wednesday morning (Sept 21). Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO.

A lava lake has been present within the Halemaumau Overlook vent over the past week, resulting in night-time glow visible from the Jaggar Museum. The lake, which is deep within the vent cavity and visible by Webcam, fluctuated in level several times over the past week in response to two deflation-inflation cycles at the summit.

Early this past week, lava within the Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater, on Kilauea’s east rift zone, rose to the crater rim, feeding several relatively short overflows to the west. At 2:20 a.m., HST, on Wednesday, September 21, a new fissure opened on the upper east flank of Pu‘u ‘O‘o cone, sending a vigorous flow outside the crater to the southeast, and causing the lava level in the crater to drop. By the afternoon of Thursday, September 22, this flow was still actively advancing and had traveled 3.7 km (2.3 miles) southeast of Pu‘u ‘O‘o. If this flow continues, it will threaten the Royal Gardens subdivision in the coming days.

Two earthquakes beneath Hawai`i Island were reported felt this past week. A magnitude-2.0 earthquake occurred at 9:04 p.m., HST, on Sunday, September 18, 2011, and was located 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Ookala at a depth of 15 km (9 mi). A magnitude-1.8 earthquake occurred at 7:19 p.m., on Monday, September 19, and was located 6 km (4 mi) south of Volcano Village at a depth of 4 km (2 mi).

Visit the HVO Web site (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov) for detailed Kilauea and Mauna Loa activity updates, recent volcano photos, recent earthquakes, and more; call (808) 967-8862 for a Kilauea summary; email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov