Hawaii County Civil Defense and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory will hold additional community meetings tonight and on Thursday to update residents on the lava flow in the Wao Kele O Puna area.
The briefings will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Pahoa High School cafeteria.
According to HVO’s volcanic activity notice, which was issued Monday, new vents opened June 27 on the northeast flank of Puu Oo cone that fed a narrow lava flow to the east-northeast. On Aug. 18, the flow entered a ground crack, traveled underground for several days, then resurfaced to form a small lava pad. The sequence was repeated three more time over the following days with lava entering and filing other cracks before reappearing at the surface, in two of the cases farther downslope.
Lava emerged from the last crack Saturday and moved as a surface flow to the north. Between Saturday and Monday, the flow advanced northward at a rate of 1,300 feet/day. In this way, the flow had advance approximately 8.5 miles straight-line distance from the vent, or to within 0.7 miles of the eastern boundary of the Wao Kele O Puna Forest Reserve, by Monday afternoon, the HVO notice stated.
At the average rate of 1,300 feet/day since Saturday, the observatory projected lava could flow from its current location either through the north part of Kaohe Homesteads, or to the north of Kaohe Homesteads, and reach the government road in Pahoa within 16 to 18 days if lava is not further confined within the cracks and down-dropped block within the East Rift Zone of Kilauea volcano. This estimates will be continually refined as this lava flow is tracked, according to the HVO notice.