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Streams of molten lava flowed from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano overnight Saturday into Sunday, ahead of another eruption expected to take shape in the coming days, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Located in Volcanoes National Park, a massive protected area on the Big Island of Hawaii, Kilauea is among the world’s most active volcanoes. It has been erupting intermittently for almost a year now, with the next imminent episode set to be its 37th since last December.
Eruption episodes tend to be characterized by fountains of lava bursting from the ground and shooting up dramatically into the sky above Hawaii. Visitors are able to travel to the national park to view the volcanic activity themselves, as flows are confined to that area and do not threaten areas of the island with any residential homes or buildings, officials have said.
This time, fiery overflows from Kilauea’s two vents began Friday morning and continued throughout the weekend, according to USGS, which has been releasing regular updates on its progress from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The agency anticipates the episode will be in full swing at some point between Sunday and Tuesday.
A livestream of Kilauea, also run by USGS, shows rivers of lava cascading down the volcano as thick smoke rises from the ground. The agency acknowledged that plumes of gas containing sulfur dioxide were visible late Saturday from both the north and south vents of the volcano, but said emissions levels were consistent with “eruption pause” measurements, which typically fall somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 metric tonnes per day. That equates to approximately 1,300 to 1,650 U.S. tons daily.
As of the agency’s latest update Saturday, USGS said there had been at least 24 overflows from Kilauea’s south vent since the current eruption episode started, producing some dome-shaped fountains approximately 30 feet high.
Kilauea’s last eruption took place on Nov. 9 and occurred over a period of about five hours, according to USGS. At their highest points, lava fountains from each vent reached heights of about 1,200 feet and 750 feet, respectively.
Overall, that eruption dispensed just under 11 million cubic yards of lava from inside the volcano, with both vents spouting off at a combined average rate of more than 600 cubic yards per second. That means Kilauea was emitting enough lava to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool — which usually holds about 3,300 cubic yards of water — every 5 1/2 seconds.
In the earlier November eruption, lava flows ultimately covered about 80% of the Halemaumau crater, where Kilauea’s vents are located, USGS said.
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