The eruption on Kilauea’s lower East Rift Zone has covered 9.2 square miles and added 320 acres to the shoreline in Kapoho as of Friday.
The eruption on Kilauea’s lower East Rift Zone has covered 9.2 square miles and added 320 acres to the shoreline in Kapoho as of Friday.
Geologist Mike Zoeller said there was minor activity at fissures 16 and 18, but the eruption remained focused at fissure 8 in Leilani Estates. That fissure continued to produce a long lava flow into the ocean.
Fissure 8 reached heights between 100 and 130 feet with bursts up to 180 feet Friday. The spatter cone forming around it was 170 feet tall.
Zoeller said that lava channel remains stable with few spill overs.
He said the lava flow was moving at a speed of 15 mph near the fissure and 1 mph near Kapoho.
Tom Birchard, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the lava ocean entry is affecting weather in the area.
He said updrafts from the entry are creating clouds that are dropping rain near Kapoho and Pahoa.
