Eruptive activity along the E rift zone continued into early June, spilling lava into the ocean at the Highcastle and Kamoamoa sites. Breakouts from the Highcastle flow covered new land on the W margin and continued to burn Chain of Craters Road. Between 25 April and 8 May, inflation of the Highcastle flow was dramatic, and the old sea cliff was less distinct where active lava tubes crossed it. The Highcastle bench continued to grow and extend into the ocean, with as many as five active entries. Explosive activity was reported around 22 May. From late April to early June, the Kamoamoa entry was small but continuously active, dribbling lava into the ocean on the E side of the delta. By 5 June, almost all of the lava was confined to tubes. A few large surface flows were active on and above Pulama Pali from late April to mid-May; a breakout at 665 m burned through a large kipuka before stagnating.

Pu`u `O`o pond was 81-94.5 m below the crater rim throughout this period. The pond was at its lowest level on 2 May when lava poured into a NE cavity of the pond, eventually plugging it and returning the pond activity to normal. Two large lava cascades on the SW side of the pond, which appear when the level is low, were also visible at that time. On 16 May the pond was circulating slowly from SW to NE, with spatter activity concentrated in the center.

A number of rockfalls between 25 April and 8 May enlarged the upper collapse pit on Pu`u `O`o's W flank, dusting the N flank of the cone with fine red cinder. Sometime during 2-8 May, a 100 x 5-10 m piece of the SE crater rim collapsed, taking trail markers and a sampling box with it. Possibly as a result of this collapse, several meters of the SE crater wall were covered with a sheet of spatter.

Tremor intensity remained at ~2x background level until the morning of 27 April when ~7 rockfall events were recorded at the seismic station nearest Pu`u `O`o. Tremor amplitude then decreased to near background, where it persisted with occasional scattered bands of increased amplitude through 17 May, when a steady, gradual increase in amplitude (to ~3x background) began. By early June tremor intensity was again at background levels. Microearthquake counts were low beneath the summit except for 5 May, when LPC-A events totalled 194. Microearthquakes along the E rift zone were generally low in number until early June, when they rose to average levels. On 3 June, a M 3.6 earthquake hit the uppermost end of the E rift zone, slightly E of the caldera. Despite a flurry of aftershocks, no damage or injuries were reported.

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: Tari Mattox and Paul Okubo, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, HI 96718, USA.