During 11-17 January, HVO reported that the lava lake circulated and periodically rose and fell in the deep pit within Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Crater, remaining below the inner ledge (75 m below the crater floor). Almost daily measurements indicated that the gas plume from the vent continued to deposit variable amounts of ash and fresh spatter nearby.

Incandescence was visible from small spatter cones on the E, S, and W edges of the Pu'u 'O'o crater floor during 11-17 January. Incandescence was also exhibited by short lava flows from the E pit on 13 January, small lava flows issuing from the SE spatter cone, and a small flow from the NE pit on 16 January. During 11-16 January a thermal anomaly about 2-4 km SE of Pu'u 'O'o cone was seen in satellite imagery. On 12 January, geologists on an overflight confirmed surface activity at this location. By 15 January the source of the thermal anomaly had extended to the coast.

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.

Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)