Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for March 15, 2019

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Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for March 15, 2019

Posted on March 15, 2019. Tags: halemaumau, hvo, kilauea, lava, puu oo, usgs, volcano, volcano watch

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

Thermal camera time-lapse movie at Mile Marker 14.5 on Pahoa-Kalapana Road (Route 130) March 7-14, 2019. Images courtesy HDOT

Time-lapse panorama of the Kīlauea Caldera Wide Angle from HVO Observation Tower. March 7-14, 2019. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

At 08:23 on March 13, 2019, the upper part of a gully along the western wall of the new Halema‘uma‘u crater failed, producing a rockfall. When geologists arrived at the summit at 09:00, rocks were still falling, and a small dusty plume was visible until 09:08. This rockfall was likely triggered by instability of the talus slope caused by water that has been trickling out of a round hole in the cliff face since July 2018, when the steep gully first formed. Photo taken Wednesday, March 13, 2019 courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey

Telephoto zoom of the largest sulfur deposit forming on the NE talus wall in Halema‘uma‘u. The view is from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's K3cam. Images can be viewed on HVO's website at https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/webcam.html?webcam=K3cam. Photo taken Wednesday, March 13, 2019 courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey

Kīlauea is not erupting. Rates of seismicity, deformation, and gas release have not changed significantly over the past week.

Deformation signals are consistent with refilling of Kīlauea Volcano’s deep East Rift Zone (ERZ) magma reservoir. Sulfur dioxide emission rates on the ERZ and at Kīlauea’s summit remain low.

Hazards still exist at the lower ERZ and summit of Kīlauea. Residents and visitors near the 2018 fissures, lava flows, and summit collapse area should heed Hawai‘i County Civil Defense and Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park closures and warnings. HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea for any sign of increased activity.

The USGS Volcano Alert level for Mauna Loa remains at NORMAL.

Island-wide, there was one earthquake with 3 or more felt reports during the past week. On March 13, 2019 at 12:55 a.m. HST, a magnitude-5.5 earthquake occurred 12 km (7 mi) SSE of Volcano at 7 km (4 mi) depth. For more information on this event, see the link below:
* https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/hv70863117#dyfi

FOR MORE INFORMATION Please visit the HVO website (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov) for past Volcano Watch articles, Kīlauea daily eruption updates and other volcano status reports, current volcano photos, recent earthquakes, and more; call (808) 967-8862 for a recorded Kīlauea summary update; email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.