UPDATE: Eruption at Napau Crater has stopped
UPDATED at 10:33 a.m.
Kilauea’s Napau Crater eruption has paused, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has reported.
ADVERTISING
An HVO update shortly after 10 a.m. reported that lava flows at the remote crater crusted over late Thursday evening, and while some minor lava fountaining was observed from one end of the volcanic vent this morning, that activity ceased by 10 a.m.
This marks the end of the eruption’s fourth phase of fissure activity since it began Sunday night. However, HVO notes that additional phases are still possible and that one body of magma beneath Kilauea summit continues to supply magma to the middle East Rift Zone.
Since the eruption began, HVO reports lava has covered more than 630,000 square meters, including roughly two-thirds of the Napau Crater floor. During the most active period of the eruption Thursday, fissures emitted roughly 5-15 cubic meters of material per second.
About 30,000 metric tons of sulfur dioxide were emitted Thursday.
No additional activity has been detected elsewhere in the middle or lower East Rift Zone.
HVO’s volcano alert level and aviation color code for Kilauea are still set respectively at “Watch,” and “Orange.”
PREVIOUSLY
The eruption of Kilauea near Napau Crater appears to be diminishing, according to a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory report.
HVO stated this morning that, as of about 6 a.m., camera imagery indicates that lava flowing into the crater has likely crusted over, while eruptive tremor has progressively decreased over the last several hours. No other eruptive activity has been detected outside the area and no changes have been detected in the volcano’s lower East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.
Despite this, HVO’s volcano alert level for Kilauea remains set at “Watch,” while its aviation color code is still “Orange.”
HVO continues to monitor the situation. More information is expected later this morning.
