Kīlauea Volcano — Ballistic Blocks

With careful consideration and planning to avoid ongoing volcanic hazards as much as possible, an HVO scientist who has been studying the behavior of Kīlauea's summit for decades, briefly visited the parking area for the former Halema‘uma‘u overlook (closed since 2008) on June 5 to make direct observations of and gather data from the effects of recent explosions within Halema‘uma‘u. Through these photos, we share with you what he saw and learned. The parking lot is strewn with small ballistic blocks. Most are only a few centimeters across, with the largest blocks around 45 cm (18 inches) in diameter.