2018 Lower East Rift & Summit
2018 lower East Rift Zone Eruption and Summit Collapse
From Neal and others (2019): "Kīlauea Volcano experienced its largest lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption and caldera collapse in at least 200 years. After collapse of the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent on 30 April, magma propagated downrift. Eruptive fissures opened in the LERZ on 3 May, eventually extending ~6.8 kilometers (4 miles). A 4 May earthquake [moment magnitude (Mw) 6.9] produced ~5 meters (16 feet) of fault slip. Lava erupted at rates exceeding 100 cubic meters (131 cubic yards) per second, eventually covering 35.5 square kilometers (14 square miles). The summit magma system partially drained, producing minor explosions and near-daily collapses releasing energy equivalent to Mw 4.7 to 5.4 earthquakes. Activity declined rapidly on 4 August. Summit collapse and lava flow volume estimates are roughly equivalent—about 0.8 cubic kilometers (0.2 cubic miles). Careful historical observation and monitoring of Kīlauea enabled successful forecasting of hazardous events."
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Resources Relating to Kīlauea's 2018 Activity
- Preliminary summary of Kīlauea Volcano's 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse (pdf)
- 8 May 2018 – Preliminary Analysis of Current Explosion Hazards at the Summit of Kīlauea Volcano (pdf)
- 29 June 2018 – Volcanic Hazard at the Summit of Kīlauea Update (pdf)
- 29 June 2018 – Frequently Asked Questions about Deformation at Kīlauea's Summit (pdf)
- 15 July 2018 – Preliminary analysis of the Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone eruption: Fissure 8 prognosis and ongoing hazards (pdf)
- Chronology of Events for 2018 Kīlauea activity (pdf)
- Frequently Asked Questions about Kīlauea Volcano's Summit Earthquakes (pdf)
- Video of Feb. 4, 2020, presentation: "Seismicity of the 2018 Kīlauea Volcano eruption"
- Video of Jan. 30, 2020, presentation: "What can lava tell us? Deciphering Kīlauea's 2018 eruption through chemistry"
- Video of Jan. 30, 2020, presentation: "Kīlauea lower East Rift Zone 2019: quiet but insightful"
- Video of Jan. 21, 2020, presentation: "Transitions: What's next for HVO and the volcanoes it monitors?"
- Video of May 9, 2018, Community meeting held at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
- USGS geonarrative describing Kīlauea Volcano's 2018 events
Kīlauea 2018 Eruption Data
- Damby, D.E., Peek, S., Lerner, A.H., and Elias, T., 2018, Volcanic ash leachate chemistry from increased 2018 activity of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geological Survey data release.
- Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff, 2018, Preliminary map of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Island of Hawai‘i: U.S. Geological Survey.
- Lee, R.L., Gansecki, C., Lundblad, S., Mills, P., Adams, D.T., Conrey, R., and Wagoner, L., 2019, Whole-rock and glass chemistry of lava samples collected during the 2018 Lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea: U.S. Geological Survey data release.
- Patrick, M.R., Dietterich, H., Lyons, J., Diefenbach, A., Parcheta, C., Anderson, K., Namiki, A., Sumita, I., Shiro, B., and Kauahikaua, J., 2019, Cyclic lava effusion during the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano: data release: U.S. Geological Survey data release.
- Patrick, M.R., Younger, E.F., and Tollett, W., 2019, Lava level and crater geometry data during the 2018 lava lake draining at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii: U.S. Geological Survey data release.
Relevant Publications
- Fact Sheet, Kīlauea – An Explosive volcano in Hawai‘i
- Anderson, K.R., Johanson, I.A., Patrick, M.R., Gu, M., Segall, P., Poland, M.P., Montgomery-Brown, E., and Miklius, A., 2019, Magma reservoir failure and the onset of caldera collapse at Kīlauea Volcano in 2018: Science, v. 366, no. 6470, eaaz1822.
- Butler, R., 2019, Volcanic earthquake foreshocks during the 2018 collapse of Kīlauea Caldera: Geophysical Journal International, v. 220, no. 1, p. 71-78.
- Gansecki, C., Lee, R.L., Shea, T., Lundblad, S.P., Hon, K., and Parcheta, C., 2019, The tangled tale of Kīlauea's 2018 eruption as told by geochemical monitoring: Science, v. 366, no. 6470, eaaz0147.
- Kauahikaua, J. and Trusdell, F., 2020, Have humans influenced volcanic activity on the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano? A publication review: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1017, 17 p.
- Kehoe, H.L., Kiser, E.D., and Okubo, P.G., 2019, The rupture process of the 2018 Mw 6.9 Hawai‘i earthquake as imaged by a genetic algorithm-based back-projection technique: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 46, no. 5, March 16, p. 2467-2474.
- Liu, C., Lay, T., and Xiong, X., 2018, Rupture in the 4 May 2018 MW 6.9 earthquake seaward of the Kīlauea East Rift Zone fissure eruption in Hawaii: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 45, no. 18, September 28, p. 9508-9515.
- McMurtry, G.M., Dasilveira, L.A., Horn, E.L., DeLuze, J.R., and Blessing, J.E., 2019, High 3He/4He ratios in lower East Rift Zone steaming vents precede a new phase of Kīlauea 2018 eruption by 8 months: Nature, Scientific Reports, v. 9, August 14, article no. 11860.
- Neal, C.A., and others, 2019, The 2018 rift eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea Volcano: Science, v. 363, no. 6425, p. 367-374.
- Olivier, G., Brenguier, F., Carey, R., Okubo, P., and Donaldson, C., 2019, Decrease in seismic velocity observed prior to the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano with ambient seismic noise interferometry: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 46, no. 7, April 16, p. 3734-3744.
- Patrick, M.R., Dietterich, H.R., Lyons, J.J., Diefenbach, A.K., Parcheta, C., Anderson, K.R., Namiki, A., Sumita, I., Shiro, B., and J.P. Kauahikaua, 2019, Cyclic lava effusion during the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano: Science, v. 366, no. 6470, eaay9070.
- Patrick M.R., Orr T., Anderson K., Swanson D.A., 2019, Eruptions in sync: improved constraints on Kīlauea Volcano's hydraulic connection: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 507, p.60-61.
- Soule, A., Heffron, E., Gee, L., Mayer, L., Raineault, N., German, C.R., Lim, D., Zoeller, M.H. and Parcheta, C., 2019, Mapping the lava deltas of the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano: Oceanography, v. 32, no. 1, p.46-47.
- Wang, K., MacArthur, H.S., Johanson, I., Montgomery?Brown, E.K., Poland, M.P., Cannon, E.C., d'Alessio, M.A., and Bürgmann, R., 2019, Interseismic quiescence and triggered slip of active normal faults of Kīlauea Volcano's south flank during 2001–2018: Journal of Geophysical Research, Solid Earth, v. 124, no. 9, September, p. 9780-9794.
- Wauthier, C., Roman, D.C., and Poland, M.P., 2019, Modulation of seismic activity in Kīlauea's upper East Rift Zone (Hawai‘i) by summit pressurization: Geology, v. 47, no. 9, September 1, p. 820-824.