The leading edge of the lava flow threatening Pahoa appears to have temporarily ground to a halt.
“The June 27 lava flow is still active, but it appears the flow front has stalled in the past day or so,” said Steve Brantley, acting scientist-in-charge with the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. “An overflight by the county Civil Defense observed that the flow front did not advance since yesterday morning.”
Between Monday and Wednesday, the front had slowed to moving about 25 yards per day; on Thursday it showed no forward movement since Wednesday.
“In the past two weeks, its slow advance has slowed from 120 (yards) a day down to 25 (yards) and perhaps down to zero as of earlier today,” Brantley said.
He warned, however, the source of the lava at the Puu Oo crater was continuing to send lava down through the lava tube system and along the series of cracks that originally carried the flow front toward Pahoa.
“The flow is still active, as evidenced by surface flows a little over a mile upslope from the front,” he said. “We haven’t seen significant changes at Puu Oo or at the summit. During yesterday’s visit, geologists saw a steady stream pouring into the lava tube system.”
Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira added that breakouts behind the front continued to move laterally, widening the flow, but not extending it any closer to Pahoa and Highway 130. Between the front and the breakouts, located about 1.2 miles mauka, the flow’s width ranges from 220 to 550 yards.
The flow front remained about 0.8 miles from Apaa Road.
“Breakouts are also active roughly midway along the length of the flow, just upslope from the area where lava enters and travels within ground cracks. Breakouts have persisted in this area for several weeks, but the number of breakouts and overall level of activity has fallen over the past week,” reads an update on the HVO website.
All burning activity associated with the lava flow is limited to vegetation in direct contact with the lava and there is no brush fire threat at this time, officials said. Smoke conditions were reported as light to moderate Wednesday morning.
Currently, the lava flow does not pose an immediate threat to area communities and evacuation is not necessary. Civil Defense says it will provide adequate notice to safely evacuate should it become necessary.
However, the state Department of Health suggests that residents dependent on medical services, treatment or supplies and who live in communities that may be cutoff by the advancing lava flow to relocate outside the affected area to ensure continued access to necessary medical support. If the lava flow crosses Highway 130, medical services and supplies will be severely limited and emergency medical service response time may be significantly delayed.
The flow is not visible and cannot be accessed from any public areas, according to Civil Defense. Access to the Kaohe Homesteads subdivision remains restricted to area residents.
In addition, the County of Hawaii has established an Incident Command Center and Informational Resource Center at the Pāhoa Community Center. Residents are invited to the information center from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday next week for answers to their questions.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.