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Click Photo to Enlarge Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists sample lava flowing in an active channel Saturday. The lava is erupting from one of two new fissures, each a third- to a half-mile long, that began developing east of Puu Oo shortly after midnight Friday. - Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | Special To West Hawaii Today |
Lava erupting from Puu Oo
by Jason Armstrong
Stephens Media
Monday, July 23, 2007 9:28 AM HST
Hilo -- Lava from Kilauea Volcano continued flowing at the 2,200-foot elevation Sunday, although there are no viewing sites accessible by land, said the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's lead scientist.
"Nothing much has changed," Jim Kauahikaua, HVO scientist-in-charge, said from his Volcano office Sunday afternoon. "We're still having lava erupting from the lower part of that fissure that opened up Saturday."
Seeing the activity, however, will require a helicopter flight as none of the flows are reachable on foot, he said.
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"It's all fairly contained," Kauahikaua said of activity he placed at between the 2,200- and 2,300-foot levels of Kilauea.
The flows were not reaching the ocean, he said.
Rather, they were ponding between Puu Halulu, Puu Kahaualea and Kupaianaha, according to a morning update on HVO's Web site.
"There are three to four active ponds submerging the fissures," the 9:42 a.m. update states. "The narrow aa flow that (Saturday) morning was advancing toward the southeast is still stagnant and not moving."
For the first time in more than 15 years, lava is erupting east of Puu Oo Crater.According to an earlier HVO report Sunday, the Puu Oo floor gave off a faint glow shortly before midnight Saturday.
Views of the crater had been obscured by fume since the floor suddenly collapsed Friday night, the report says.
If weather allowed, HVO crews were planning Sunday to reposition the organization's Web cam at the north rim of Puu Oo. It will be pointed east to show the new eruption.
Viewers can access the live panoramic images at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cam to "witness a benchmark event in the Puu Oo-Kupaianaha eruptive era of Kilauea Volcano" that's been occurring continuously since 1983, according to HVO's latest "Volcano Watch" update.
Jason Armstrong can be reached at jarmstrong@hawaiitribune-herald.com.