Volcano Erupting - Check for Updates

Latest news is that there is a major volcano eruption on the Big Island. Lava is flowing and a residential area is being evacuated. The lava flow is so far nowhere near the coast, so this unfortunately doesn't mean you'll be able to see lava flowing into the sea. That could come in future months, but it's not in the immediate picture.

This has happened several times over the last 35 or so years, and was expected due to a swarm of earthquake activity over the last several days.

If you're visiting the Big Island and have a tour booked, the tour operators will know what's going on and make any route adjustments necessary. If you plan on renting a car and doing a self tour, then be prepared for possible closure areas or detours. Personnel at the Hilo pier and car rental agencies will probably have the latest local information. The most important thing is to obey any signs or park employee warnings of unstable or dangerous conditions - the lava and fumes can be extremely dangerous if you get too close.

According to the map the whole Volcano National Park is now closed. Mandatory evacuations going on now.

I am currently south of Hilo and madame pele sent a serious shot across the bow this morning. I am from southern CA and was not bothered by yesterday's shake, but I was running out of the house this a.m. U.H. Hilo farm is sheltering animals and hopefully everyone in harms way is preparing. We visited the volcano on Saturday and seeing the lava bubbling was amazing. Everyone visiting should do as previously recommended and check with your tour company and not try to go into areas that could be dangerous. Cherie

It seems that Tūtū Pele is angry.

It seems that Tūtū Pele is angry.

Whoever took a rock as a souvenir, PUT IT BACK! :cool:

Whoever took a rock as a souvenir, PUT IT BACK! :cool:

This just in....Greg just wiped out on his surfboard.

The NPS VNP site states that the closure is near Kiluaea Volcano’s Pu U O-o vent. Mandatory evacuations are in effect in 2 subdivisions.

Here's an update article from Associated Press, pretty dramatic!

https://apnews.com/eb19f99cfbaa4fb280c4b3f7a37f8c51/Volcanic-'curtain-of-fire'-sends-people-fleeing-Hawaii-homes

Here's an update article from Associated Press, pretty dramatic!

 

https://apnews.com/eb19f99cfbaa4fb280c4b3f7a37f8c51/Volcanic-'curtain-of-fire'-sends-people-fleeing-Hawaii-homes

Thanks for sharing, Hopefully, the situation will not get worse. My best wishes.

Hope everyone stays safe! We have Tix for July to explore the area in a helicopter. Hope she's calmed down and the park reopened by then.

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Ongoing earthquakes on the Big Island. Some quite strong. The news on TV shows here on Oahu keeps breaking in saying... no danger of tsunami... Madam Pele is very active now. At least 2 homes have burned down. Unknown what she will do....

We spent today in Volcano National Park. We got to experience a 6.9 earthquake while parked by the side of the road in our car. The car bounced around quite a bit. The pedestrians in the parking lot were grabbing onto railings to steady the!selves. The park staff seemed completely unimpressed by it all - just another day in Volcanoes National Park.

I am sitting on my balcony at the Doubletree in Hilo as I write this. Celebrity Solstice is docked here on her repo cruise to Vancouver. (We are not on the cruise.). These cruisers will have some good stories to tell about this particular port of call.

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According to the map the whole Volcano National Park is now closed. Mandatory evacuations going on now.

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The park was open today for all of the places normally accessible by car. The closed areas are backcountry accessible by trails.

 

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Current alert from VNP website:

May 4, 2018 - Park Closure in Effect

Due to recent earthquake activity and damage, the park has closed for the safety of our visitors and employees.

Our Hawaii news stations are reporting the same closure.

We’re in South Maui but didn’t feel any of the earthquakes. Today’s 6.9 is the largest in Hawaii since a 7.1 in the same area in 1975.

We've been following it on the news. It is beautiful to watch although I'm sure people who have had their homes destroyed don't think so. Glad nobody was hurt.

In January National Geographic in Spanish published an article on the 6 volcanoes that you should not lose sight of in 2018. 1) Popocatépetl, Mexico 2) Mount Merapi, Indonesia 3) Villarrica Volcano, Chile 4) Kirishima, Japan 5) Öræfajökull Volcano, Iceland and 6) Kilauea, Hawaii.

For Tūtū Pele they mention: The Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii has been blasting basaltic lava almost continuously for 35 years and there is no reason to expect this eruption to end soon. The volcano continues to erupt constantly and from the vent of Pu'u'O'o to the east of it, it continues to produce lava flows that occasionally reach the ocean.

I have been following the eruption on the news. The news pieces about it is brief in NY so off to the VNP FB page and the USGS page swhich giv emuch more information. Having visited VNP I think that I have much more interest in what is happening than my neighbors. I saw the post from VNP that they are evacuating everyone except emergency personnel from the park fro safety reasons.

To everyone on the Big Island stay safe.

First let me say that I am addicted to the Weather Channel especially during hurricanes, blizzards and other weather ‘events’:eek:. Now I have found a new ‘addiction’ the USGS (United States Geological Survey) site and the pages about the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. ;p I have subscribed to the daily updates from the HVO and here is the last one I received that was posted at 8:59 PM HST yesterday May 6:

Latest update from USGS HVO at 7:35AM HST:

We spent today in Volcano National Park. We got to experience a 6.9 earthquake while parked by the side of the road in our car. The car bounced around quite a bit. The pedestrians in the parking lot were grabbing onto railings to steady the!selves. The park staff seemed completely unimpressed by it all - just another day in Volcanoes National Park.

 

I am sitting on my balcony at the Doubletree in Hilo as I write this. Celebrity Solstice is docked here on her repo cruise to Vancouver. (We are not on the cruise.). These cruisers will have some good stories to tell about this particular port of call.

 

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We are on the Solstice. I shot some pretty good footage of the crater (lava lake) collapsing into itself creating the plumes of smoke and sulfur dioxide. We were at the steam vents and just starting to walk to the lookout. When our guide whipped out his phone and started racing towards it we knew it must be big.

We were at the Macadamia nut farm eating lunch when the earthquake hit. We’ve never experienced anything like it. Vans and buses were swaying,the patio roof was going back and forth. Quite the experience for many of us.

On the way to Black Beach we saw many line ups at the gas stations,road and beach closures, sirens were going off, heavy helicopter traffic along the coast. When we got to the beach, we were told by a lifeguard that it was closed because of tsunami warnings. At that point we all agreed to call it a day and return to the ship for a good stiff drink!

You are right in saying that we have good stories to tell. It’s all anyone was talking about.

Thinking about the people of Hilo and praying they all stay safe. So sad for the evacuees [emoji53]

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We are on the Solstice. I shot some pretty good footage of the crater (lava lake) collapsing into itself creating the plumes of smoke and sulfur dioxide. We were at the steam vents and just starting to walk to the lookout. When our guide whipped out his phone and started racing towards it we knew it must be big.

 

We were at the Macadamia nut farm eating lunch when the earthquake hit. We’ve never experienced anything like it. Vans and buses were swaying,the patio roof was going back and forth. Quite the experience for many of us.

 

On the way to Black Beach we saw many line ups at the gas stations,road and beach closures, sirens were going off, heavy helicopter traffic along the coast. When we got to the beach, we were told by a lifeguard that it was closed because of tsunami warnings. At that point we all agreed to call it a day and return to the ship for a good stiff drink!

 

You are right in saying that we have good stories to tell. It’s all anyone was talking about.

 

Thinking about the people of Hilo and praying they all stay safe. So sad for the evacuees [emoji53]

 

 

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Can you post a link to your video? I’d like to compare it to what we saw last June.

Latest update from USGS HVO. Monday, May 7 %:59 PM HST

HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT

U.S. Geological Survey

Monday, May 7, 2018, 5:59 PM HST (Tuesday, May 8, 2018, 03:59 UTC)

KILAUEA VOLCANO (VNUM #332010)

19°25'16" N 155°17'13" W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m)

Current Volcano Alert Level: WARNING

Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

Lower East Rift Zone Eruption

The intermittent eruption of lava in the Leilani Estates subdivision in the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano continues. The location of activity today was focused on the southwest portion of the area.

This morning, two new fissure segments broke ground. The first (fissure 11) opened in a forested southwest of Leilani Estates about 9:30 am and was active for only 3 hours. The second (fissure 12) opened about 12:20 between older fissures 10 and 11. By 3:15 pm, both new fissures were in active but the west end of fissure 10 was steaming heavily.

Cracks on Highway 130 widened from 7 cm to 8 cm over the course of the day and additional cracks were found just west of the highway on trend with the eruptive fissures.

For map of recent features discussed above, see https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html

Rates of seismicity and deformation changed little throughout the day.

Gas emissions likely remain elevated in the vicinity of fissures.

Residents should remain informed and heed Hawaii County Civil Defense closures, warnings, and messages (http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts).

For maps showing the locations of eruption features, please see https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html

For information on volcanic air pollution, please see: http://www.ivhhn.org/vog/

HVO geologists will be in the area overnight to track and report to Hawaii County Civil Defense on the activity, and other scientists are closely tracking the volcano's overall activity using various monitoring data streams.

Kīlauea Volcano Summit

Tiltmeters at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano continue to record the deflationary trend of the past several days and the lava lake level continues to drop. Rockfalls from the steep crater walls into the retreating lake continue to produce occasional ashy plumes above Halema‘uma‘u crater. These plumes are expected to continue.

Earthquake activity in the summit remains elevated but has decreased over the past few days. Many of these earthquakes are related to the ongoing subsidence of the summit area and earthquakes beneath the south flank of the volcano.

This message will be updated tomorrow morning or earlier should conditions change.

HVO Contact: askHVO@usgs.gov

MORE INFORMATION

Activity Summary also available by phone: (808) 967-8862

Subscribe to these messages: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns2/

Webcam images: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_webcams.html

Photos/Video: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_chronology.html

Lava Flow Maps: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html

Definitions of terms used in update: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/definitions.pdf

Overview of Kīlauea summit (Halemaʻumaʻu) and East Rift Zone (Puʻu ʻŌʻō ) eruptions:

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/background.pdf

Summary of volcanic hazards from Kīlauea eruptions:

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/hazards.pdf

Recent Earthquakes in Hawai'i (map and list):

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/earthquakes/

Explanation of Volcano Alert Levels and Aviation Color Codes:

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/alertsystem/index.php

https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3139/

HVO Contact: askHVO@usgs.gov

CONTACT INFORMATION:

askHVO@usgs.gov

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is one of five volcano observatories within the U.S. Geological Survey and is responsible for monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawai`i.

For all those following the volcano news there are some interestng videos posted on the “USGS Volcanoes” Facebook page.

For all those following the volcano news there are some interestng videos posted on the “USGS Volcanoes” Facebook page.

I appreciate your updates. We were there last year and loved Hilo. So unfortunate for everyone in the path of the eruption. Wishing all safety and a better outcome.