Deflation continues slowing activity ~ Nice line of lava viewed after dark ~ Southwest rift-zone quakes

Photos of the day ~ A reposting of what the flow fields looked like last week (the two above and one further below). I am posting these three again because of how similar the lava looks out there right now; too similar to bother retaking the photos. The main difference to be seen now, though, is that now the visible lava can be seen much further down to the left than is visible in these images. (Click on any image or the maps below for a larger viewing size.


Deformation monitors are showing continued deflation of magma pressures beneath the two recording stations: Halema’uma’u and Pu`u O`o:

A couple of hundred people gathered at Hawaii County’s lava viewing area to witness molten lava slowly moving down the pali yesterday and into the evening. During the day we could see sections of forest burning and the occasional ball of yellow flame shoot-up as individual trees caught fire. After dark the burning forest really stood out, as well as a broken line of red-orange lava that ran from the base of the pali all the way to the top: an approximate elevation drop of 1600-feet across a two-mile run down the mountain.

The recently updated flow field map by the USGS/HVO shows the location of the entire eruption (From ‘D-vent’ into Royal Gardens).

Recent earthquakes map shows that Pahala has received four quakes recently: two at a magnitude of 3 or more and two near the 2.0 range. Three of these were at a depth of around 22 miles, and a smaller 2.0 at a shallow 3 miles. These quakes are along the southwest rift-zone and would be of great interest to geologist because the tremblers may indicate magma movement in that area.