Kilauea volcanic eruption update for Wednesday October 13th

(BIVN) – The eruption of the KÄ«lauea volcano continues, with the lava being confined to the summit caldera in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Overall activity hardly changes and seismicity and volcanic gas emission rates remain high.

The volcano warning level remains at WATCH, with an aviation color code of ORANGE. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor the activity.

On Wednesday morning, HVO issued this message:

Summit observations: The emission rates of sulfur dioxide (SO2) remain high, with a measured emission rate of about 6,800 tons per day on October 12, 2021, slightly higher than in the past few days. The summit slope was slightly deflationary yesterday, October 12, and flattened out overnight.

HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u lava lake observations: Lava continues to erupt from a single vent in the west wall of HalemaÊ»umaÊ»u crater. The western end of the lake showed a maximum elevation of approximately 785 meters (2575 ft) above sea level when measured by field workers on October 12, an increase of 2 meters (7 ft) from the previous day and an overall increase of approximately . corresponds to 42 meters (138 ft) since the lava ascent on September 29th. The total volume of the eruption since the eruption began was estimated on October 8 to be approximately 15.9 million cubic meters (4.2 billion gallons). The western vent had sustained fountain heights of 10-15 m (33-49 ft) to more variable heights – up to 30 meters (98 ft) – observed by field crews on October 12. The fountain has a spray cone with an opening about 10 meters (33 ft) wide built to the front, facing east towards the lake. Lava flows into the lake through the spray cone opening. The central island and some of the smaller eastern islands of the lava lake 2020 are still above the lake surface, along with an island of the western vent 2020 in the northwestern part of the lake. The lava lake is not level due to the location of the vent at the western end. Areas closer to the vent are about 3-6 meters (10-20 ft) higher compared to the northern and southern parts of the lake and 8 meters (26 ft) higher than the eastern end of the lava lake. Lava surface activity such as crust sinking is observed at the western end of the lake and north and south of the central island, but not at the eastern end of the lake.

East Rift Zone Observations: No unusual activity was detected in the KÄ«lauea East Rift Zone. Ground deformation movements indicate that the upper East Rift Zone – between the summit and PuÊ»uʻōʻō – has steadily filled with magma over the past year. The SO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions from PuÊ»uʻōʻō were below the instrumental detection limits when they were last measured on January 7, 2021.

Hazard analysis: This new eruption on the summit of KÄ«lauea takes place in a closed area of ​​the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Therefore, high levels of volcanic gas are the main hazard, as this hazard can have far-reaching effects downwind. When the volcano KÄ«lauea erupts, large amounts of volcanic gas – mainly water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) – are continuously released. When SO2 is released from the summit, it reacts in the atmosphere, creating the visible haze known as Vog (volcanic smog) that was observed downwind from KÄ«lauea. Vog poses potential airborne health hazards for residents and visitors, harms agricultural crops and other crops, and affects livestock. For more information on gas hazards at the summit of KÄ«lauea, see (this publication). Vog information can be found at vog.ivhhn.org.

Further hazards are Pele’s hair and other light volcanic glass fragments from the lava fountains, which fall in the wind direction of the stomata and pollinate the ground within a few hundred meters (yards) of the opening (s). Strong winds can blow lighter particles at greater distances. Residents should minimize exposure to these volcanic particles, which can cause skin and eye irritation.

In the vicinity of the Kīlauea Caldera there are also other significant hazards from the instability of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater wall, cracking in the ground and rock falls, which can be exacerbated by earthquakes in the area closed to the public. This underscores the extremely dangerous nature of the Kīlauea caldera rim that surrounds Halemaʻumaʻu crater, an area that has been closed to the public since early 2008.

HVO says it will continue to provide daily updates on KÄ«lauea Volcano until further notice.