The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory will remain 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
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory will remain 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) will remain 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 the felt earthquake report to the local newspapers. Hawaii County Civil Defense is now the point-of-contact for any questions about the Oct. 17 Great Hawaii Shakeout; visit www.shakeout.org/hawaii.
Kilauea
activity update
A lava lake within the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent produced nighttime glow that was visible via HVO’s webcam during the past week. A deflation-inflation cycle (DI event) started on Tuesday, and inflation is continuing as of this writing on 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 Kahauale‘a 2 flow, fed from a spatter cone on the northeast edge of the Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater, continues to slowly advance across old flows and into the forest northeast of Pu‘u ‘O‘o.
One earthquake was reported felt on the Island of Hawaii in the past week. On Saturday, Oct. 5, at 8:57 p.m., a magnitude-3.6 earthquake occurred 3 miles southwest of Kalapana at a depth of 4 miles.
Visit the HVO website (http://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 (http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/) is a weekly article and activity update written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
