Let’s begin with what we all know in regards to the dimension of the 2018 eruption. Recent measurements by U.S. Geological Survey researcher Hannah Dietterich and collaborators utilizing digital elevation fashions and unoccupied plane methods have produced an estimate of the quantity of the 2018 lava stream. The high-end estimate is 1.4 cubic kilometers (or about 0.34 cubic miles). The estimate has a variety as a result of it’s tough to measure the quantity of the lava that poured into the ocean.
To get a way of how voluminous the 2018 lava is, think about a large dice of lava sitting on the bottom that’s 0.7 miles tall — or about thrice as tall because the Empire State Building. For Hawaii Island residents, that is about 27 occasions as tall as Bayshore Towers in Hilo.
It seems, there are solely a handful of lava stream eruptions worldwide previously few hundred years which have produced greater than a cubic kilometer (0.24 cubic miles) of lava.
The largest in Hawaiʻi in current centuries was the Puʻu ʻOʻo eruption, which produced 4.4 cubic kilometers (1.1 cubic miles) of lava. However, that eruption lasted 35 years in comparison with the 4 months of the 2018 LERZ eruption. The Puʻu ʻOʻo eruption destroyed 215 buildings, in comparison with over 700 destroyed within the 2018 eruption.
Other giant quantity lava flows occurred in Russia and Iceland. The Tolbachik eruption of 1975-76, in Kamchatka, Russia, lasted a yr and a half and produced about 2 cubic kilometers (0.48 cubic miles) of lava. In 2014-15, the six-month-long eruption of Bárðarbunga in Iceland produced the Holuhraun lava stream, about 1.4 cubic kilometers (0.34 cubic miles) in quantity.
In each the Tolbachik and Bardarbunga eruptions, the lava flows issued from the flanks of the volcano and triggered subsidence on the summit because the magma chamber drained, just like what occurred in 2018 at Kilauea. The Tolbachik and Bárðarbunga eruptions occurred in distant areas, with no vital destruction of populated areas.
An eruption within the Canary Islands, Spain, made the listing as nicely. The Lanzarote eruption of 1730–1736 produced 2 cubic kilometers (0.48 cubic miles) of lava and destroyed quite a few villages on the flank of the volcano.
The current eruption of Cumbre Vieja, on La Palma within the Canary Islands, in 2021 was spectacular in vigor however we couldn’t but discover revealed quantity estimates for the lava stream. Regardless of the stream quantity, the destruction was immense, with about 3,000 buildings destroyed.
Another giant eruption occurred at Paricutin volcano, in Mexico, in 1943, when a fissure opened in a cornfield and continued erupting for 9 years, producing a lava stream with a quantity of 1.6 cubic kilometers (0.38 cubic miles).
None of those eruptions, nevertheless, come near the scale and influence of the Laki eruption in Iceland in 1783. Over eight months about 14.7 cubic kilometers (3.5 cubic miles) of lava lined the panorama, destroying a number of dozen villages. The volcanic gases poisoned livestock and destroyed crops, resulting in a significant famine in Iceland that killed 1000’s. It additionally affected climate in Europe. Ben Franklin, the U.S. ambassador residing in France on the time, remarked on how the unusual fog that summer time could have come from the Iceland volcano.
That big dice of lava from Laki can be 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) tall.
There could also be different lava flows larger than one cubic kilometer that we’ve missed in our fast compilation right here, however the truth stays these are very uncommon occasions. We can see that the 2018 Kilauea lava stream was among the many high lava stream eruptions on Earth in current centuries. The eruption was not solely exceptional in scale for Hawaiʻi, but in addition worldwide.
What are the takeaways from a compilation like this? Like earthquakes, most lava flows are small, and solely a tiny fraction are huge like those talked about right here. But though these giant lava flows are uncommon occasions, once they happen in populated areas, the impacts might be devastating and lengthy lasting.
Volcano Activity Updates
Kilauea volcano is erupting. its USGS Volcano Alert stage is at WATCH. Over the previous week, lava has continued to intermittently erupt from the western vent inside Halemaʻumaʻu crater. All lava is confined inside Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Sulfur dioxide emission charges stay elevated and have been final measured at roughly 1,400 tonnes per day (t/d) on March 23 throughout lowering eruptive exercise.
Over the previous week, lava has continued to erupt from the western vent inside Halemaʻumaʻu crater. All lava is confined inside Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Sulfur dioxide emission charges stay elevated and have been final measured at roughly 1,400 tonnes per day (t/d) on March 23, 2022. Seismicity is elevated however steady, with few earthquakes and ongoing volcanic tremor. Summit tiltmeters present comparatively little floor deformation over the previous week.
Mauna Loa will not be erupting and stays at Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY. This alert stage doesn’t imply that an eruption is imminent or that development to an eruption from the present stage of unrest is definite. Mauna Loa updates are issued weekly.
Mauna Loa will not be erupting and stays at Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY. This previous week, about 65 small-magnitude earthquakes have been recorded beneath the summit and higher elevation flanks of Mauna Loa — the vast majority of these occurred at shallow depths lower than 6 miles beneath sea stage.
Six earthquakes have been reported felt within the Hawaiian Islands through the previous week: a magnitude-3.4 earthquake 4 km (2 mi) SW of Pahala at 36 km (22 mi) depth on March 29 at 8:23 p.m., a magnitude-3.7 earthquake 8 km (4 mi) E of Pahala at 32 km (20 mi) depth on March 29 at 7:07 p.m., a magnitude-3.5 earthquake 26 km (16 mi) E of Honaunau-Napoopoo at 0 km (0 mi) depth on March 29 at 3:19 a.m., a magnitude-3.4 earthquake 22 km (13 mi) NNW of Kalaoa at 46 km (28 mi) depth on March 28 at 7:11 p.m., a M3.3 earthquake 12 km (7 mi) SE of Fern Forest at 6 km (4 mi) depth on March 26 at 10:10 a.m., and a magnitude-3.1 earthquake 4 km (2 mi) S of Pahala at 31 km (19 mi) depth occurred on March 25 at 12:12 a.m.
Visit https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory for previous Volcano Watch articles, updates, pictures, maps, current earthquake information, and extra. Email inquiries to askHVO@usgs.gov. Volcano Watch is a weekly article and exercise replace written by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and associates.