lower Puna eruption

lower Puna eruption The lower Puna eruption was a major 2018 eruptive episode of Kīlauea on the island of Hawaiʻi in the State of Hawaii, United States, centered in the Lower Puna district that produced extensive lava flows, ground subsidence, and a summit collapse sequence at the volcano's Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The event linked emplacement of fissure-fed flows in the Leilani Estates subdivision with concurrent changes at the Kīlauea Caldera and affected infrastructure under the jurisdiction of Hawaiʻi County and federal agencies including the United States Geological Survey and the National Park Service.

Background and geology

Kīlauea, part of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain and the Hawaiian hotspot track, occupies the Kīlauea Caldera and the East Rift Zone, which extends through the Puna district toward Mauna Loa and the Hawaiian Islands chain; the volcano's behavior reflects interactions among the Pacific Plate, the Hawaiian mantle plume, and shallow magmatic plumbing including intrusions into rift zones and eruptive vents such as those that opened in Puʻu ʻŌʻō and the upper East Rift. Preceding the 2018 crisis, episodes like the prolonged eruption at Puʻu ʻŌʻō (1983–2018) and summit inflation recorded at HVO informed models used by the United States Geological Survey Volcanoes Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and academic partners at institutions such as the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the California Institute of Technology. Regional geology includes young basaltic flows, tephra deposits, and faulting mapped by the United States Geological Survey and described in literature from the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research and the Bulletin of Volcanology.

Chronology of the eruption

In early May 2018, seismicity beneath Kīlauea's summit and the East Rift Zone increased, recorded by instruments at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, prompting elevated alerts from the United States Geological Survey and coordination with the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency and the FEMA Pacific region. On May 3, new fissures opened in Leilani Estates and neighboring subdivisions, producing pahoehoe and ʻaʻā flows that destroyed homes and infrastructure; simultaneous deflation at Halemaʻumaʻu culminated in repeated summit collapse events between May and August, observed by scientists from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the National Park Service, and researchers affiliated with University of Hawaii and USGS collaborators. Over the following weeks, dozens of fissures erupted, including high-flux vents that fed channelized lava toward the coast and generated lava deltas where flows entered the Pacific Ocean near areas monitored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Hawaii Department of Health for hazards like laze and vog. By August 2018, eruptive activity on the East Rift Zone waned and summit activity stabilized after large collapse events; agencies including the United States Geological Survey, National Park Service, and Hawaiʻi County transitioned to longer-term monitoring and recovery operations.

Impact and damage

The eruption caused widespread impacts to residents and infrastructure in Leilani Estates, Kapoho, and surrounding areas, destroying hundreds of homes and displacing thousands under the direction of Hawaiʻi County emergency management and shelters coordinated with the American Red Cross and Hawaiʻi State Civil Defense. Critical utilities including sections of Hawaii Electric Light Company distribution, county roads such as Highway 137, and telecom services overseen by private carriers were disrupted, requiring coordination among the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, and local governments. Environmental and cultural sites within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and traditional landholdings were affected, with ash, vog, and laze impacting air quality monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health, while fisheries and marine habitats near the new lava deltas were of concern to the National Marine Fisheries Service and local subsistence communities.

Response and recovery

Emergency responses involved coordinated action by the Hawaiʻi County Police Department, Hawaiʻi County Fire Department, Hawaiʻi National Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Geological Survey, National Weather Service, and nongovernmental organizations including the American Red Cross and community groups; evacuation orders, sheltering, and damage assessments were executed under Hawaiʻi State Civil Defense oversight. Recovery efforts included hazard mitigation, debris removal, road repairs funded through federal and state programs administered by FEMA and the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, housing assistance coordinated with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and local housing authorities, and land-use planning discussions within Hawaiʻi County and tribal organizations representing Native Hawaiian stakeholders. Scientists from institutions such as the United States Geological Survey, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, California Institute of Technology, and international collaborators contributed to post-eruption studies published in journals like the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America and the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research to inform resilience and rebuilding efforts.

Volcanic hazards and monitoring

The 2018 episode highlighted hazards including fissure eruptions, lava flows, summit collapse, ash emission, vog formation affecting Hilo, Honolulu, and island communities, and laze where lava enters the sea; monitoring improvements involve increased seismic networks, GPS and InSAR deformation studies, gas monitoring by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and real-time collaboration with Hawaiʻi County, Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency, and the National Park Service. Lessons from the event influenced hazard mapping, land-use policy discussions in Hawaiʻi County Council meetings, emergency preparedness training run by Hawaiʻi State Civil Defense, and scientific initiatives at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and international volcanology centers to reduce risks from future eruptions along rift systems like the Kīlauea East Rift Zone.

Category:Kīlauea Category:2018 natural disasters in the United States