Lava entered the ocean in May and early June . . . . Activity at the W Kamoamoa entry was sluggish in early and mid-May, stopping altogether by the 24th. Most of the material erupted from the E-51 and 53 vents entered the ocean on the E side of the Kamoamoa delta. These flows built out a lower bench, ~200 m wide, that extended 40 m into the ocean. Lava entries along the bench were very explosive, probably due to material sloughing off the unstable front, allowing seawater to contact lava and hot rocks. This intermittent explosive activity built up littoral cones on the lower bench.

Very few surface flows were observed on the flow field after 11 May. However, minor breakouts occurred inland and on the E side of the Kamoamoa delta. Small surface pahoehoe flows were active above a fault scarp (Paliuli Pali) on the W edge of the old Lae Apuki flow, but had not crossed it as of 7 June. More skylights have opened up on the tube system, including some immediately inland of the ocean entries. Surface flows broke out of one skylight that was intermittently open on the bench, resurfacing the lower bench. Another skylight was seen above the lower bench at the edge of the old sea cliff.

The lava pond in Pu`u `O`o remained active, varying from 75-77 m below the crater rim in mid-May before dropping to ~84 m below the rim in early June. Eruption tremor amplitudes remained at 2x background, with occasional bands at slightly higher levels. Microearthquake counts were low beneath the summit and rift zones in mid-May, and slightly below average along the E rift zone in early June.

Geological Summary. Kilauea overlaps the E flank of the massive Mauna Loa shield volcano in the island of Hawaii. Eruptions are prominent in Polynesian legends; written documentation since 1820 records frequent summit and flank lava flow eruptions interspersed with periods of long-term lava lake activity at Halemaumau crater in the summit caldera until 1924. The 3 x 5 km caldera was formed in several stages about 1,500 years ago and during the 18th century; eruptions have also originated from the lengthy East and Southwest rift zones, which extend to the ocean in both directions. About 90% of the surface of the basaltic shield volcano is formed of lava flows less than about 1,100 years old; 70% of the surface is younger than 600 years. The long-term eruption from the East rift zone between 1983 and 2018 produced lava flows covering more than 100 km2, destroyed hundreds of houses, and added new coastline.

Information Contacts: T. Mattox and P. Okubo, HVO.