Two new breakouts at Puʻu ʻŌʻō began the morning of Tuesday, May 24, 2016 just before 7 a.m., HST. The larger of the two breakouts, shown here, originated on the northeast flank of the cone, at the site of the vent for the ongoing June 27th lava flow. This breakout point fed a vigorous channelized flow that extended about 1 km (0.6 miles). This lava flow had not extended beyond the existing Puʻu ʻŌʻō flow field at the time this photo was taken (8:30 a.m., HST). Photo taken Tuesday, May 24, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

A wider view of the larger breakout traveling down the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, towards the northwest. This photo was taken at about 8:30am. Photo taken Tuesday, May 24, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

Another breakout occurred just east of PuÊ»u ʻŌʻō, about 500 m (0.3 miles) from the crater, in the area of the “Peace Day” flow that broke out in September 2011. This second breakout was smaller than the one on the northeast flank, but was still feeding an impressive lava channel. At the time of this photo (8:30 a.m., HST), this flow was about 700 m (0.4 miles) long and traveling towards the southeast. Photo taken Tuesday, May 24, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

A lava breakout at Puʻu ʻŌʻō began this Tuesday morning, May 24, 2016 just before 7 a.m., HST. The breakout originated on the northeast flank of the cone, at the site of the vent for the ongoing June 27th lava flow. This breakout point fed a vigorous channelized flow that extended about 1 km (0.6 miles). This lava flow had not extended beyond the existing Puʻu ʻŌʻō flow field at the time this video was taken (8:30 a.m., HST). Video taken Tuesday, May 24, 2016 courtesy of USGS/HVO

5:15 p.m. Hawaii County Civil Defense lava flow audio update

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: At around 6:50 a.m., in concert with sharp deflationary tilt at Puʻu ʻŌʻō, two lava flows broke out from the flanks of the cone. One is on the northeast flank, approximately 250 m (0.15 mi) from the rim of the cone, heading toward the northwest. The other flow is on the east flank of the cone, approximately 500 m (0.3 mi) from the rim of the cone, heading toward the southeast.

At around 8:30 a.m., during an Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overflight, the flow on the northeast flank was roughly 1 km (0.6 mi) long, and the flow on the east flank was around 700 m (0.4 mi) long, but neither has extended beyond the existing flow field. Typical of new breakouts, the initial flow activity has been vigorous, but neither flow is currently threatening any nearby communities. The floor of Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater has subsided slightly with the new flow activity. Persistent glow from spatter cones within the crater continues. No change in seismic activity has been noted, and remains low and steady. The sulfur dioxide emission rate from all East Rift Zone vents was about 300 metric tons/day when last measured on May 10.

June 27th Lava Flow Observations: In addition to the new lava flows on the flanks of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, surface flow activity on the June 27th flow field continues, with small breakouts scattered northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō where they have been occurring for the past several months. The most distant breakouts were about 5.8 km (3.6 mi) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The flows are not currently threatening any nearby communities.