Upslope lava flow breakouts remain active

Three areas of breakouts remained active in the upslope portion of the June 27 lava flow, U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory officials reported Thursday morning.

Scientists, who used webcams overnight to assess the flow, said all three areas of breakouts were located to the northeast of Kilauea Volcano’s Puu Oo vent. The Feb. 21 breakout remains active on the northern flank of Puu Oo while a lava flow that broke out March 9 near Puu Kahaualea has traveled about 1.2 mile toward the north. The third area of breakouts remain active about 3 to 4 miles northeast of Puu Oo, HVO said.

Tiltmeters at Kilauea’s summit recorded a modest amount of inflation starting at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night that may indicate the start of the inflation portion of the deflation-inflation event that started on March 30. The summit lava lake level remained fairly stable Wednesday.

During inflation, magma rises into the summit reservoir, according to the observatory. The summit reservoir enters the deflation portion of the cycle when the magma moves laterally into a rift zone and either erupts or is stored there.

Summit tremor continued with intermittent bursts followed by relatively quiet interludes. Scientists said the summit tremor could correspond with gas emission bursts.

The tiltmeter on the north flank of Puu Oo recorded minor variations around very weak inflationary tilt. Tiltmeters are used to measure tiny changes in the slope angle or “tilt” of the ground.

The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on March 25 downgraded its alert level for Kilauea Volcano from a warning to a watch.

The observatory said the decision to lower the alert level from “warning” to “watch” was made because the lava flow nearest to the town of Pahoa has remained inactive. Hawaii County Civil Defense on March 28 suspended its daily eruption and lava flow updates.