USGS MAUNA LOA MORNING UPDATE FOR DAY 14

USGS-HVO (12.11.22) - The Northeast Rift Zone eruption of Mauna Loa may still be active. Incandescence is restricted to the cone that formed around the fissure 3 vent, there was no observable activity anywhere on the rest of the flow field overnight. As of 7:00 a.m. today, December 11, the M8 webcam shows very little incandescence and no lava movement in the F3 vent. The channels below the vent appear drained of lava and no longer feed the main flow front. The inactive main flow front has stagnated about 1.7 mi (2.8 km) from the Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Saddle Road) when last measured yesterday morning, December 10. The inactive main flow front still glows at a few spots at night and may inch northward very slowly as it continues to settle. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rates continue to be reduced; on December 9, the emission rate was approximately 20,000 tonnes per day (t/d). The Hawaii Interagency Vog Information Dashboard has detailed information about vog: https://vog.ivhhn.org/. Forecasts for the dispersion of vog can be found on the VMAP Vog Forecast Dashboard: http://weather.hawaii.edu/vmap/new/. Tremor (a signal associated with subsurface fluid movement) is no longer detectable; summit and Northeast Rift Zone inflation started on December 7 and is continuing. The significance of the continuing inflation while the flow field is inactive is not yet clear; it is common for eruptions to wax and wane or pause completely, but none of the eight recorded eruptions from Mauna Loa’s Northeast Rift Zone returned to high eruption rates after those rates decreased significantly. Nevertheless, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor the current activity. There is no active lava within Moku'āweoweo caldera nor in either rift zone. Satellite imagery shows the entire 2022 flow field cooling and no longer active. ---- END OF USGS VOLCANO UPDATE ---- Image and caption from USGS: Aerial view of the fissure 3 cone on the Northeast Rift Zone of Mauna Loa. On December 10, 2022, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists noted there are no fountains present in fissure 3. Only a lava pond is present with minor circulating activity. Photograph by K. Mulliken.