Volcano Watch: Kilauea Update for March 22, 2012

(Activity update written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

A lava lake present within the Halema’uma’u Overlook vent during the past week resulted in night-time glow that was visible from the Jaggar Museum overlook. The lake, which is normally about 90–115 m (295–377 ft) below the floor of Halema’uma’u Crater and visible by HVO`s Webcam, rose and fell slightly during the week in response to a series of large deflation-inflation cycles.

On Kilauea’s east rift zone, surface lava flows were active on the pali and upper coastal plain, in Royal Gardens subdivision, over the past week. As of Thursday, March 22, the flows were still more than 2 km (1.2 miles) from the coast, and there was no active ocean entry.

Two earthquakes beneath Hawai’i Island were reported felt this past week. A magnitude-2.7 earthquake occurred at 3:42 p.m., HST, on Monday, March 19, 2012, and was located 4 km (2 mi) southeast of Pu’ulena Crater at a depth of 2 km (1 mi). A magnitude-3.7 earthquake occurred at 00:04 a.m. (4 minutes after midnight) on Thursday, March 22, and was located 40 km (25 mi) west and offshore of Kailua-Kona at a depth of 33 km (21 miles).

…(Hawaii 24-7)

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