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Time-lapse movie of Halemaumau Overlook vent thermal imaging

The lava pond in the northeast portion of Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater remains active, though the level of lava was low in the pit Tuesday (July 31). Over this past weekend, a small collapse of the rim enlarged the pit slightly. The lava pond is about 30 meters (100 feet) wide. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

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

A lava lake within the Halema`uma`u Overlook vent resulted in night-time glow that was visible from the Jaggar Museum overlook and by HVO’s Webcam during the past week. The lake level fluctuated slowly between about 60 to 80 m (200-260 ft) below the floor of Halema`uma`u Crater, matching cycles of summit inflation and deflation. There were also several rise-fall cycles, during which the level fluctuated more rapidly.

On Kilauea’s east rift zone, surface lava flows on the coastal plain and pali have been relatively weak over the past week, with a few brief surges on the pali related to summit inflation and deflation. The active flow front was more than 1 km (0.6 miles) from the ocean. There was no active ocean entry. Incandescence was visible from three degassing vents within Pu`u `O`o, including the pit on the northeastern side of the crater floor which has held a small lava pond. The lava pond was too low to be directly visible via Webcam.

One earthquake was reported felt under the island of Hawai`i in the past week. A magnitude-3.4 earthquake occurred on Sunday, July 29, 2012, at 3:51 p.m., HST, and was located close to the Kahua Ranch Office, 14 km (8 mi) south of Hala`ula, at a depth of 20 km (12 mi).

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

This image is a composite of a thermal image and a normal photograph, showing the coastal plain and pali. Red areas are warm portions of the flow field that were active in the past weeks or months, while yellow and white areas are areas of active breakouts. This image shows a handful of active breakouts scattered across the flow field, but each one is relatively small. Some of these breakouts were only weakly active. Overall, this image shows a reduced level of activity on the flow field today. Photo courtesy of USGS/HVO

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Time-lapse movie of the Peace Day Flow