Loading ...No new lava eruptions. Sulfur Dioxide fumes continue to vent heavily. I’ve got some SO2 masks coming in the mail. Local suppliers mostly sold out. Everyone is now in ‘freak-out’ hysteria over the POTENTIAL ash belches that COULD come from the summit crater. It’s below the water table now, so the vent is steaming, with an occasional belch of ash if a rockfall goes down the hole. The potential danger now is if the steam weakens the shaft walls and a rockfall blocks the chimney, the steam pressure will build up until the worlds largest ‘spud cannon’ goes off, ejecting rock, ash, and steam.
The lava that has been ejected so far was analyzed and found to be OLD LAVA that has been trapped under the rift zone since the last eruption in 1955… and some analysts say it could be as old as the 1790 eruption. New, fresh lava from the summit and Pu’u O’o areas has drained downslope but has not yet appeared at the surface. But it’s putting pressure on the rift zone that is swollen and cracked like it is very pregnant. Earthquake swarms have moved downslope closer to Kapoho and could likely break out again further east than the present fissures. That would be a better area for lava, with few residences and a shorter flow to the ocean.