Recent Volcano Eruptions: update for Kilauea Volcano in HawaiiHere I’ve captured the recent volcano eruptions of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This Big Island volcano has been putting on quite a show for 25 years! This page contains a map of that activity, the latest updates, and some really cool volcano eruption pictures taken by the USGS (I’m too chicken to get as close as they do!). Map of Kilauea VolcanoThe light red color in the middle shows the lava path on May 29, 2008.On the right is a zoomed in Map of Kilauea Volcano showing current lava flow in light red. Notice the fate of the Royal Gardens subdivision. Kalapana Gardens subdivision was destroyed in the 1990s. Thank Heavens all I have to worry about in St. Louis is tornadoes and the occasional earthquake! Scroll down to see photos of the flowing Kilauea lava.  
Recent Volcano Eruptions: Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii – August 2008August 21st 2008: I find this amazing. When I think of the recent volcano eruptions, I think of steam plumes and explosions but this phenomenon is occurred when the sediment caused by lava entering the ocean meets the “clean” ocean water. The water containing sediment looks like it’s green and a sharp line has formed where the sediment ends and the clear blue sea meet. To me this looks like a painting that should be hanging in an art museum. August 12th 2008: This is pahoehoe lave burning a path through what used to be thick vegetation. It never ceases to amaze me how hot and destructive lava can be and yet once it cools it looks so pristine. And then sooner than you think, some vegetation starts to take hold and life begins again.  August 10th 2008: This is something I haven’t seen before; slabs of pahoehoe lava entering the ocean through a channel of the surface of the previous lava flow. Until now, I’ve only seen lave entering the ocean through the underground lava tube system. It reminds me of a waterfall—a very, very hot and very, very slow waterfall!  August 8th 2008: The lava flow into the sea at the Waikupanaha ocean entry has stopped. Although watching lava stream into the sea cool, now that it has stopped you can see the lava tube that the lava was pouring out of. It looks like a cave in the center of the photo. These lava tubes can be huge!  Here is a look into one of the lava tubes. Even though no lava is currently flowing, you can see how hot it is in the lava tube.  Recent Volcano Eruptions: Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii – July 2008July 31st 2008: Near the Waikupanaha ocean entry, a huge skylight formed. You can look inside to see the lave streaming toward the ocean in an underground lava tube. A skylight forms when the roof of the lava tube collapses. In th background is a huge steam cloud that forms when the hot lava hits the sea. The new lava form the recent volcano eruptions appears very shiny. If you look very closely, there are dark “spots” in the middle of the shiny stuff. Those “spots” are chunks of debris that exploded and landed in the middle of the new lava. This is a very dangerous spot to visit right now. The USGS is keeping an eye on it from the air and distant cameras.  July 25th 2008: See the white stuff in the photo below? Well, it isn’t really white. It is new lava that is so reflective it photographs as white. This is just east of the Waikupanaha ocean entry. You can see a steam cloud at the top of the picture where the hot lava is entering the ocean. Can you see the big “crack”? it looks to me like there may be a bench collapse soon. A bench collapse is when a chunk of lava along the ocean breaks off and falls into the sea. The lava often shatters; with the wave action, black sand is formed.  July 16th 2008: Fireworks?? No. These are photos of incandescent particles shooting up from the Waikupanaha ocean entry. In other words, fiery hot rocks are being jettisoned high into the air by recent volcano eruptions and falling back to earth. The largest explosions reached 210 feet (70 m)!!  July 10th 2008: Here is the lava arch a few days later. The flow has decreased substantially and you can see the cooled lava formed around its edges. The lava is still shooting up 6-9 feet (2-3 m) high.  July 7th 2008: This is a lava fountain. It is flowing out of the right side and landing on the left side, forming an arch of molten lava.  July 15th 2008: The new deep black chunky lava is called a’ a’ lava. It has covered most of the previous flow of pahoehoe lava, the swirly, ropey lava in the foreground. This whole area used to be the Royal Gardens subdivision. There are still some trees visible. The others have been burned and the remains are covered in lava.  Return from recent volcano eruptions to home page
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