The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory remains operational during the lapse of federal government appropriations. Basic volcano monitoring will continue, as will forecasts and regular updates of volcanic activity. However, because of reduced staff, only critical sensors will be maintained; all other instrument network maintenance will cease, meaning that our monitoring capability will degrade over time. The HVO website, hvo.wr.usgs.gov, remains functional, but only those pages containing information about current volcano hazards will be maintained.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory remains operational during the lapse of federal government appropriations. Basic volcano monitoring will continue, as will forecasts and regular updates of volcanic activity. However, because of reduced staff, only critical sensors will be maintained; all other instrument network maintenance will cease, meaning that our monitoring capability will degrade over time. The HVO website, hvo.wr.usgs.gov, remains functional, but only those pages containing information about current volcano hazards will be maintained.
Because the majority of the HVO staff has been furloughed, the Volcano Watch articles have been suspended. We will continue to provide the weekly Kilauea update and felt earthquake report to local newspapers.
A lava lake within the Halemaumau overlook vent produced nighttime glow visible via HVO’s webcam during the past week. A deflation-inflation cycle started Tuesday and inflation was continuing as of Thursday. The lava lake level fluctuated correspondingly.
On Kilauea’s east rift zone, one small breakout from the Peace Day tube remains active above the pali, based on glow visible from Kalapana. The Kahaualea 2 flow, fed from a spatter cone on the northeast edge of the Puu Oo crater, continues to slowly advance across old flows and into the forest northeast of Puu Oo.
One earthquake was reported felt on Hawaii Island in the past week. At 8:57 p.m. Oct. 5, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake occurred 3 miles southwest of Kalapana at a depth of 4 miles.
Visit hvo.wr.usgs.gov for Volcano Awareness Month details and Kilauea, Mauna Loa and Hualalai activity updates, recent volcano photos, recent earthquakes and more; call 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.