There is oozing this morning along the western edge of the lava flow front inside Isaac Hale Beach Park but Pohoiki boat ramp “is still there,” Mayor Harry Kim’s spokeswoman Janet Snyder said this morning.
Snyder said the flow is “still around the same distance” from the boat ramp, about 500 feet.
“A minor ocean entry near Pohoiki is building a delta,” Snyder said. The wide ocean entry of lava continues, centered at the site of the former Ahalanui Beach Park.
Fissure No. 8, the most active fissure since the current eruptive phase began May 3 in Kilauea volcano’s Eastern Rift Zone is still producing lava. Snyder said the channel is “fairly full.
There was a collapse-explosion event at the Kilauea summit at 7:59 this morning, producing energy equivalent to a magnitude-5.3 earthquake, according to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
A 4.5-magnitude earthquake occured at the summit at 12:30 a.m. today, according to HVO. No damage was reported.
The Disaster Recovery Center, which had been at Keaau High School gym, is now at the Pahoa Community Center.
Hawaii County residents with losses as a result of the Kilauea eruptions and earthquakes have through Monday, Aug. 13, to register for disaster assistance with FEMA, which can be done at the DRC, weekdays 8 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturdays, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Registration can also be done online at DisasterAssistance.gov or by phone at 800-621-3362 or (TTY) 800-462-7585. Applicants who use 711 or Video Relay service may call 800-621-3362. The toll-free numbers are open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week.
As of Monday, 2,486 individuals on Hawaii Island had registered for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency with $5,096,906 in funding approved.
Disaster assistance can include FEMA grants for temporary housing, home repairs and replacement, as well as low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. These loans are available to businesses, private nonprofits, homeowners and renters to cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries.
Aug. 13 is also the deadline to file a loan application for physical damages with the SBA. Applicants may apply to the SBA online at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing may call (800) 877-8339.
A community meeting on lava-related issues is scheduled for 5 p.m. today at Pahoa High School cafeteria.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.