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2018 Eruption A Kīlauea, Hawaii, USA story

Natural Disasters
  1. Earthshots
  2. Kīlauea, Hawaii, USA
  3. 2018 Eruption
Description

On April 30, 2018, rapid changes in the East Rift Zone were detected. The Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater floor collapsed. Ground deformation toward the east indicated magma intrusion approaching the Leilani Estates neighborhood, 20 km from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Based on numerous geological, geochemical, and geophysical instruments, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and other scientists determined that magma had drained from below Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater. It then intruded through underground tunnels and emerged at eruptive vents, or fissures, in the lower East Rift Zone.

On May 3, the first of 24 fissures along a 6-km line opened within Leilani Estates. Fissure 8 became the dominant vent on May 28. It shot lava tens of meters into the air and sent a vigorous flow toward the coast, ultimately entering the ocean near the eastern tip of the island.

This series of images shows the progression of the lava flows throughout the summer of 2018. Clouds often obscure views of the island, but numerous observations from Landsat, Sentinel-2, and Resourcesat offered peeks through the clouds to the location of fresh lava. Some of the images also show “laze.” When lava mixes with seawater, it creates a noxious gas plume that looks like clouds or smoke. The word is a blend of the words lava and haze. Laze can cause skin and eye irritation and breathing difficulties.

This flow ended abruptly on August 4, 2018. By this time, lava had destroyed more than 700 structures, covered 13.7 square miles (35.5 km2) of land, and added about 741 acres (300 hectares) of land to the island. Lava was a couple hundred meters thick in some places.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Mar. 27, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Mar. 27, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

May 6, 2018, LISS — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

May 6, 2018, LISS — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

May 14, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

May 14, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

May 18, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

May 18, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

May 23, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

May 23, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

June 7, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

June 7, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

June 22, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

June 22, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

June 27, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

June 27, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

July 7, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

July 7, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

July 12, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

July 12, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

July 22, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

July 22, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Aug. 1, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Aug. 1, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Aug. 2, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Aug. 2, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Feb. 26, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Feb. 26, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Feb. 26, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Feb. 26, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Mar. 27, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
May 6, 2018, LISS — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
May 14, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
May 18, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
May 23, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
June 7, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
June 22, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
June 27, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
July 7, 2018, Sentinel-2A — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
July 12, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
July 22, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
Aug. 1, 2018, Sentinel-2B — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
Aug. 2, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
Feb. 26, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA
Feb. 26, 2019, Landsat 8 (path/row 62/47) — 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption, HI, USA

Kīlauea, Hawaii, USA Additional Imagery & Stories

End of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Eruption
End of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Eruption

Meanwhile, at the summit of Kīlauea, the Halema‘uma‘u crater and surrounding caldera floor subsided throughout the summer of 2018. Kīlauea has somethi...

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Kalapana
Kalapana

The Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruption took a destructive turn in March 1990. Breakouts from a lava tube spread lava into the Kalapana community. Images show the enti...

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Pāhoa
Pāhoa

On June 27, 2014, new fissures erupted just east of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater and lava advanced rapidly to the east. By late October, lava had advanced 20 km t...

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Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō
Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō

The 2018 eruption was part of an ongoing eruption sequence that started on January 3, 1983, with fissures breaking out along the East Rift Zone. Over ...

Read More
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