#peles hair

Episode 47 of Kīlauea’s latest eruption began Thursday, with vibrant lava fountaining from the north vent of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater.

Episode 44 of the ongoing Kīlauea eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu began at 11:10 a.m. today, April 9, with lava fountaining at the summit caldera.

A fountaining eruption at Kīlauea’s caldera is projected between April 6 to April 14, potentially impacting residents and visitors with ash and tephra.

Like the “Did You Feel It?” earthquake reporting tool helps make maps of areas affected by shaking, the new tool helps scientists map areas affected by tephra fallout; observations will be used to assess the character and size of the eruption plumes from Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island, along with the dispersal pattern of tephra fall.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Health urges residents and visitors to take precautions as elevated volcanic gas emissions from the recently paused Kīlauea eruption continue to produce vog (volcanic smog – hazy air pollution caused by the volcanic emissions) that can result in poor air quality across the islands.

The spectacular series of Kīlauea eruption episodes over the past six months has been remarkably safe for public viewing, but a simple change in the wind or brief vent collapse could cause dramatic changes in the hazards the volcano presents.

Lava fountains reach more than 1,000 feet, volcanic plume soars at least 5,000 feet before most recent phase of eruptive activity — that teased for several days — abruptly ends after just 6 hours and 10 minutes Sunday night.

The fountaining phase of the latest episode began at 3:20 a.m. this morning and lasted for 10 hours and 8 minutes.  

Pele’s hair is the name for the strands of volcanic glass that are created when globs of liquid lava are stretched apart during an eruption.

In addition to a new year and a new eruption, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is ushering in a new era for processing and studying volcanic samples.

Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers on Hawaiʻi Island said the recent eruptions of Kīlauea have caused almost $28 million in damage.

The Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency is asking the public in the volcano eruption zone to be aware of the laze hazard at the lava ocean entry point at Kapoho Bay.

Already reeling from a destructive earthquake and deadly tsunami, Kaʻū residents hoped for a reprieve, but it was slow to come.

Letters of apology to Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, often accompany these rocks.

Drifts of Pele’s hair can survive for years and even decades, but, once the eruption has ended, wind will strip the hair from most surfaces.