This recent United States Geological Survey Video on June 13, 2018, filmed details of the dramatic changes occurring within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at Kīlauea's summit since explosive eruptions of ash and gas and ongoing wall collapse began in mid-May.
The video shows steep crater walls that continue to slump inward and downward in response to the ongoing subsidence of the summit area. This video was taken from a UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems). Limited UAS flights into this hazardous area are conducted with permission and in coordination with Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.
The video is used to assess hazards at the summit and the information is shared with the National Park Service and emergency managers.
This short
video compilation shows conditions at Kapoho Bay during a helicopter overflight
on June 4, 2018, around 6:15 a.m. HST and again around 1:38 p.m. HST. By 6:15
a.m., lava from fissure 8 had entered the ocean for over seven hours. The flow
front was about a half-mile wide, with lava building a delta a few hundred
yards into the bay. The ocean entry sends a large laze plume into the air along
the coastline. In the second video, taken about seven hours later (around 1:38
p.m.), lava had nearly filled the shallow bay.
Kapoho Bay before the Kilauea eruption. Source: Google Maps
Kapoho Bay completely filled by lava on the morning of June 5, 2018. Source : USGS
Images from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) show that lava tide from fissure 8 has completely filled the beloved Kapoho Bay and destroyed homes in greater part of the Vacation Land.
The destructive fissure 8 flow entered the ocean at approximately 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening to produce a delta that began to fill in Kapoho Bay in lower Puna. According to Jim Kauahikaua of the USGS, the bay already was halfway filled in by noon Monday, and the flow reached the north side of the bay, where Champagne Ponds is located, by Monday evening.
It is estimated that a total of159 homes were destroyed till now, which includes 42 homes recently destroyed in Kapoho Bay.
Janet Babb, the spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said more than 20 square kilometers, or 5,000 acres, have been covered by lava since the eruption in the lower East Rift Zone began May 3.
The ocean entry of fissure 8 lava is about half a mile wide in some places, contributing to the high amount of lava haze called laze. Laze contains high amounts of hydrochloric acid along with tiny fragments of volcanic glass which can cause skin and eye irritation and difficulty in breathing.
Big Island has experienced more than 12,000 earthquakes since the Kilauea started spewing lava about a month back.
Here are some of the recent aerial photographs of Kapoho Bay and Kilauea
HVO scientists captured this aerial view of a much-changed Halema‘uma‘u during their overflight of the summit this afternoon. Explosions and collapse within Halema‘uma‘u have enlarged the crater (foreground) that previously hosted the summit lava lake, and the far rim of Halema‘uma‘u has dropped with continued summit deflation. The parking area for the former Halema‘uma‘u Overlook (closed since early 2008 due to volcanic hazards) can be seen to the left of the crater.
Morning view of Halema‘uma‘u and the adjacent caldera floor from the Kīlauea overlook. Heavy steam dominates the view, and strong winds are blowing the plume to the southwest.
