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Map showing Pu‘u ‘O‘o and the extent of nearby lava flows. The currently active flow (episode 61) is shown as the two shades of red-€”pink is the extent of the flow from September 21 to November 10, and bright red marks flow expansion from November 10 to November 21. The contour interval on Pu‘u ‘O‘o is 5 m

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

For a brief period this afternoon a vigorously spattering vent at the east end of Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater fed a swiftly moving river of lava that cascaded into the deeper portions of the crater. The cascade was over within about ten minutes of this photograph, but the vent continued to spatter. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

A lava lake was present within the Halemaumau Overlook vent over the past week, resulting in night-time glow that was visible from the Jaggar Museum overlook. The lake, which is about 100 m (330 ft) below the floor of Halemaumau and visible by Webcam, rose and fell slightly during the week in response to back-to-back deflation-inflation cycles.

Eruptive activity on Kilauea’s east rift zone was restricted to surface flows about 5.5 km (3.4 miles) southeast of Pu‘u ‘O‘o and a few short flows on the Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater floor. The short flows were intermittent while the more distant flows traveled through a lava tube that is fed by the September 21 fissure on the upper east flank of the Pu‘u ‘O‘o cone.

Four earthquakes beneath Hawai`i Island were reported felt this past week. A magnitude-2.6 earthquake occurred at 6:17 p.m., HST, on Thursday, November 17, 2011, and was located 4 km (2 mi) north of Captain Cook at a depth of 11 km (7 mi). A magnitude-2.8 earthquake occurred at 3:06 p.m. on Friday, November 18, and was located 15 km (9 mi) northwest of Na`alehu at a depth of 5 km (3 mi). A magnitude-4.0 earthquake occurred at 10:17 a.m. on Sunday, November 20, and was located 7 km (4 mi) northwest of Mauna Loa summit at a depth of 12 km (7 mi). A magnitude-3.8 earthquake occurred at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, November 23, and was located 9 km (6 mi) southwest of Na`alehu at a depth of 41 km (25 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.

Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.