The Kilauea lava flow’s leading edge slowed to a crawl Friday less than a mile from the ocean as breakouts near the base of Pulama pali appeared to divert its supply.
The Kilauea lava flow’s leading edge slowed to a crawl Friday less than a mile from the ocean as breakouts near the base of Pulama pali appeared to divert its supply.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory spokeswoman Janet Babb said the flow from the volcano’s Pu‘u ‘O‘o vent on the East Rift Zone remained 0.7 of a mile from the coastline and about 0.6 of a mile from the emergency route inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Friday morning.
The flow front advanced a mere 300 feet in the previous 24 hours.
More activity could be seen on or near the pali.
“There’s still a lot of activity on the steep sections,” Babb said, “including some channelized ‘a‘a flows.”
She said a new lobe near the pali’s base advanced about a half mile.
The flow is visible from the park and Kalapana.
From a parking area on the Kalapana side, lava viewers can hike about 3 miles along the emergency route to the park boundary to get a better look. Hawaii County Civil Defense is advising hikers not to leave the road to avoid trespassing on private property and for their own safety.
The route consists of packed gravel and was established in 2014 over portions of the Kalapana-Chain of Craters Road covered by earlier flows.
The flow also can be viewed from a new HVO webcam setup on Holei pali. The webcam can be viewed at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cams.