USGS Preliminary Analysis_LERZ_7-15-18_v1.1

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Kilauea Volcano - East Rift Zone Updated 3:00 pm. July 12, 2018 Figure 1. Map of the 2018 eruption as of July 12 (pink and red) with lova flows from the 1840, 1955,1960, and 2014-2015 eruptions in purple. Summary of Activity April 30—July 15 In early 2018, the lava lake in a small pit crater within Halema'uma'u crater rose to high levels, overflowing a few times. On April 30, the Pu'u 'O'o vent in the middle East Rift Zone began to collapse, and seismicity and deformation migrated downrift signifying an intrusion of magma into the LERZ beneath Leilani Estates subdivision. Cracks began to form within the subdivision during the next few days. An eruption started on May 3 with brief spattering from a fissure in the southeastern portion of the subdivision. Additional short-lived fissures opened along a 6.7 km (4.2 mi) stretch of the lower East Rift Zone and erupted sporadically, both uprift and downrift over the following week, with only relatively small, viscous flows being produced. There was a marked increase in the vigor of the eruption starting on May 18, coincident with the production of more fluid lava. Activity became longer -lived, and large, fast-moving channelized flows were produced that first reached the ocean along Kilauea's southeast coast on May 20 but only remained active for a few days. Activity eventually coalesced at fissure 8, and the other fissures became inactive or sporadically weakly active through June. 2