As of 4:23pm on Wednesday, December 7, 2022 HVO reports that the Northeast Rift Zone eruption of Mauna Loa continues with one active fissure, (fissure 3) feeding lava downslope.
Fissure 3 is generating a lava flow traveling north toward the Daniel K. Inouye Highway that has reached flatter ground and slowed down significantly.
The lava flow had advanced very little since 6:00 a.m. on the morning of December 7, when it was about 1.8 mi from the Daniel K. Inouye Highway. The flow advance has possibly slowed due to a significant breakout removing lava from the channel about 2.8 mi behind the tip of the main flow on the east side. The main flow has advanced at an average rate slower than 20 feet per hour during the 24-hour period prior to yesterday morning. The lava flow remains active and is continuously supplied from the fissure 3 vent.
Lava flow advance rates may be highly variable over the coming days and weeks as lava flows advance more slowly, spread out, and inflate on the flat ground between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Individual lobes may advance quickly, and then stall. Additional breakouts may occur if lava channels get blocked upslope. There are many variables at play, and the direction and timing of flow advances are expected to change over hours to days, making it difficult to estimate when or if the flow will impact Daniel K. Inouye Highway.
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rates of approximately 120,000 tonnes per day (t/d) were measured on December 4, 2022, and remain elevated at this time. Volcanic gas is rising high and vertically into the atmosphere before being blown to the west at high altitude, generating vog (volcanic air pollution) in areas downwind. Pele’s hair (strands of volcanic glass) fragments are being wafted great distances and have been reported as far Honoka‘a.
Tremor continues beneath the currently active fissure which indicates that magma is still being supplied to the fissure, and activity is likely to continue.
There is no active lava within Moku’āweoweo caldera nor the Southwest Rift Zone. HVO does not expect any eruptive activity outside the Northeast Rift Zone.
The most recent eruption map can be accessed at: https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/most-recent-mauna-loa-northeast-rift-zone-eruption-map
Photo credit: New West Broadcasting