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Video and photos courtesy of USGS/HVO

Close-up view of the lava channel on the relatively steep slope of Pu‘u ‘O‘o’s east flank.

High aerial view of the active lava channel. The lowest, eastern-most end of the fissure is in view at the bottom of the photo. Rather than feeding the ‘a‘ā flow active for the first couple of days, the flow now is spreading out on the low slope area at the eastern base of Pu‘u ‘O‘o, visible in the top half of the photo.

Stalled terminus of the ‘a‘ā flow fed by the September 21 fissure eruption.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Daily Update
Saturday, September 24, 2011 9:31 AM HST

Activity Summary for past 24 hours: Summit tilt recorded another small brief DI event. The lava level in the summit eruptive vent fluctuated within an overall slow drop. Lava flowed from a fissure on the upper southeast flank of Pu‘u ‘O‘o Cone and was spreading out just south of Pu‘u Halulu; the lava flow active over the past several days had stalled. Seismic tremor were elevated in the summit. All erupted lava is within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park or adjacent State land managed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The fissure breakout that started Wednesday continued this morning. As of yesterday afternoon’s overflight, the a‘a flow had advanced only a few hundred meters (yards) from Pu‘u ‘O‘o to the southeast before stalling within the Kahauale`a Natural Area Reserve; most of the active lava was spreading out at a higher elevation south of Pu‘u Halulu (1.3 km or 0.8 mi northeast of Pu‘u ‘O‘o). A small lobe was advancing northeast from the fissure and was visible in the webcam overnight. In addition, minor lava activity continued at the base of the east crater wall of Pu‘u ‘O‘o within the former west lava pond.