Mount Kilauea, Hawaii - Eruption Timeline, 2019

Kīlauea Volcano

TIMELINE

Kilauea is on the island of Hawaii (southeast corner)
It has been erupting continuously since 1983.
But by May of 2018, a new eruption sequence had commenced, with two focal points:
    1. a flank area known as the "lower east rift zone", and
    2. the "Halema’uma’u crater" to the west at Kilauea’s summit.

MORE INFORMATION
Webcam images: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_webcams.html
Photos/Video: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_chronology.html
Lava Flow Maps: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_maps.html
Definitions of terms used in update: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/definitions.pdf
Overview of Kīlauea summit (Halemaʻumaʻu) and East Rift Zone (Puʻu ʻŌʻō ) eruptions:
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/background.pdf
Summary of volcanic hazards from Kīlauea eruptions:
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/extra/hazards.pdf
Recent Earthquakes in Hawai'i (map and list):
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hvo/earthquakes/
Explanation of Volcano Alert Levels and Aviation Color Codes:
https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/alertsystem/index.php
https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3139/ 


2018
April 30
the Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater collapsed.

 Volcanic activity on the Halema’uma’u crater, May 1
Credit: U.S. Geological Survey



May 1
breakdown of a subterranean barrier That allowed magma to flow through an established pathway toward the "lower east rift zone".

May 2
Halema’uma’u crater’s lava lake began to drain
cracks appeared in the rift zone

The lava lake of Halema’uma’u on May 6. It dropped more than 1,000 feet below the surface in early May as lava spread out to the rift zone.
Credit
Usgs Handout/EPA, via Shutterstock


Image

The lava lake of Halema’uma’u on May 6. It dropped more than 1,000 feet below the surface in early May as lava spread out to the rift zone.CreditUsgs Handout/EPA, via Shutterstock

May 3
the first fissure appeared in the Leilani Estates Subdivision, and lava began to flow
evacuation of thousands of residents.

May 4
a magnitude 6.9 temblor beneath the volcano.


May 6: Lava flowing on through the Leilani Estates subdivision.
Bruce Omori/EPA

May 10
the entire crater floor began to subside
crater floor: 62 separate collapse events.

May 15: Major summit explosions recorded
Photo Credit: Mario Tama of Getty Images




Golfers were undeterred even as giant ash plumes rose from Kilauea on May 15.
Credit
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Image

June
June, 24 fissures appeared in the rift zone
rivers of lava flowing all the way to the ocean.
tons of sulfur dioxide emissions were emerging each day.

250 foot fountains of lava emerging from fissures

June 2
the largest freshwater lake on the island vaporized in only 90 minutes.

fissure #8 became the dominant fissure
spatter cone 180 feet high

Kilauea’s summit continued to periodically deflate.

Lava entering the ocean in late June.
Credit
Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Image


A satellite image of lava advancing on Kapoho Bay on June 3.CreditDigitalGlobe, via Associated Press
Image


June 5
the lava covered most of Kapoho Bay.
CreditDigitalGlobe, via Associated Press

July
Buried vegetation began to thermally decompose releasing methane that burst into blue flames.

Sulfur dioxide emissions mixed with water vapor to produce vog. (vog - volcanic fog. Vog results when gases, and particles emitted by an erupting volcano react with oxygen and moisture.)

The violent quenching of lava as it met the Ocean produced "laze", a mixture of hydrochloric acid, glass particles, and steam.

August 17
A sinkhole in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Aug. 17.
Credit
Janice Wei/National Park Service, via Associated Press
Image

A sinkhole in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on Aug. 17. The park re-opened on Sept. 22.CreditJanice Wei/National Park Service, via Associated Press


Aug. 4
all volcanic activity abruptly declined.
the rift zone experienced a dramatically reduced flow of lava

Sept. 22
the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park reopened


Kilauea’s lava covered 14 square miles of the island
there had been 1,640 feet of vertical collapse at the summit.

Oct. 12
Eruption’s end
A home in Leilani Estates spared by the lava on Oct. 12.
Credit
Marco Garcia/Associated Press


The Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program defines an eruption as being "over", if the volcano has not experienced any volcanic activity across three consecutive months.

Dec. 6
the USGS declared that it was “very unlikely” the 2018 eruption at the rift zone would resume.

Magma still exists beneath the summit and rift zone.

The lava lake of Halema’uma’u on May 6. It dropped more than 1,000 feet below the surface in early May as lava spread out to the rift zone.
Credit
Usgs Handout/EPA, via Shutterstock


Image

The lava lake of Halema’uma’u on May 6. It dropped more than 1,000 feet below the surface in early May as lava spread out to the rift zone.CreditUsgs Handout/EPA, via Shutterstock

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