Maunaloa Eruption Summary, Day 10: More Upslope Branches, Flow Front Stalls

4:20 AM · Dec 8, 2022

On Day 10 of Maunaloa's eruption a significant breakout from the main upslope channel diverted the lava supply to the flow creeping towards Daniel K. Inouye Highway, a.k.a. Saddle Road, causing the flow to stall with no forward progress over the past 12 hours. The leading edge remains 1.8 miles from the highway, while the upslope breakouts are moving downhill right next to the main channel. Otherwise, eruptive conditions are fairly similar to recent days, though occasionally clearer weather has offered better views. Vog continues to be reported from the Humuʻula Saddle region and the Kona coast, among other places. Without further changes, there is little threat to people or property, though the potential closure of the cross-island highway would have significant impacts on transportation travel times. On Kīlauea, the summit lava lake remains mostly crusted over, occasionally overturning with fresh lava, seemingly inhibited from further surface activity by Maunaloa's eruption. If a pause is forthcoming, the surface activity would have 3 months to resume before the eruption would be considered over. We review the most important imagery including the USGS live feed, monitoring signals, reports, and earthquakes, annotating and discussing live viewer questions as usual. https://youtu.be/G2Q6AGRCHCM