Images

Late on Sunday afternoon, a barbed wire fence is overrun by lava from the June 27th flow lobe that crossed through the Pāhoa cemetery earlier in the day. To the far left in the distance, a plume of smoke marks the location of the flow lobe that passed southeast of the cemetery and through the pasture.

The June 27th lava flow burns through thick vegetation below the pasture downslope of the Pāhoa cemetery at 11:15 am on Monday, October 27, 2014.

The June 27th lava flow remained active, and the flow front was nearing residential areas in the northwest portion of Pāhoa. The flow front was heading towards a low spot on the Pāhoa Village Road, between AP‘A‘ā St. and the post office. This photo was taken at 11:30 am today, when the flow front was 540 meters (0.3 miles) from Pāhoa Village Road.

This annotated photograph shows the notable features around the flow front. The photo was taken at 11:30 am, and also shows the distance the flow front has traveled between Cemetery Rd./AP‘A‘ā St. and Pāhoa Village Rd.

A slightly closer view of the flow front. AP‘A‘ā St. is in the lower portion of the photograph, and the transfer station is in the lower right. Pāhoa Village Road is in the upper left portion of the photograph.

A comparison of a normal photograph with a thermal image. The white box shows the approximate extent of the thermal image. The elevated temperatures (white and yellow areas) around the flow front indicate that significant activity is focused at the front, driving its forward movement. In addition, a slow-moving lobe was active upslope of Cemetery Rd.

Another wide view of the flow front and its position relative to Pāhoa.

Preview image for video: This Quicktime movie, taken at 11:30am, gives an aerial overview of the flow front and its position relative to Pāhoa. The movie is fairly large in size and may take several minutes to download.

After slowly moving downslope from Kīlauea Volcano’s East Rift Zone since June 27, 2014, this active lava flow in Hawaiʻi reached the town of Pāhoa just before Halloween, destroying roads, a cemetery, and private property in this community.

This map uses a satellite image acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base to show the area around the front of the June 27th lava flow. The area of the flow on October 24, 2014, at 12:10 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 25 at 5:00 PM is shown in red.

This map uses a satellite image acquired in March 2014 (provided by Digital Globe) as a base to show the area around the front of the June 27th lava flow. The area of the flow on October 25, 2014, at 5:00 PM is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the flow as mapped on October 26 at 12:30 PM is shown in red.

An HVO geologist maps the margin of the June 27th lava flow in the open field below AP‘A‘ā Street / Cemetery Road.

An HVO geologist walks across the surface of the flow, which covers the short access road to the cemetery. As is typical for pāhoehoe, the flow has inflated over the past day and was chest high in many places.

A typical portion of the pāhoehoe flow margin near the flow front, just downslope of Cemetery Rd./AP‘A‘ā St. The horizontal incandescent cracks seen in the center and right portions of the photo indicate that the flow was inflating. pāhoehoe inflation is driven by continued supply of lava beneath the surface crust, which slowly raises the surface.

An HVO geologist takes a GPS waypoint at the flow front. This measurement is done sequentially throughout the day to measure flow advance rates. The flow front was moving through tall grass in an open field downslope of AP‘A‘ā St. today.

A section of the flow margin near the flow front, showing a continuous horizontal incandescent crack that indicates ongoing flow inflation. HVO geologist for scale. The flow here was only about a meter thick, but slightly farther upslope where the lava has had more time to inflate the thickness was closer to two meters.

Some of the flow front had the appearance of "slabby" pāhoehoe, which is the type of pāhoehoe in which the surface consists of numerous broken, overturned slabs.

One of the rotated surface slabs presses against the fencing that runs along the small road to the cemetery.

As of 10 AM, HST, on October 26, 2014, the June 27th flow front remains active and continues to advance towards the northeast. A portion of the front is still moving through the open field (shown here), while the leading tip of the flow has advanced through the Pāhoa cemetery.

Kīlauea's June 27th lava flow crosses AP‘A‘ā road west of Pāhoa Village, Hawai‘i. Dark smoke is from burning asphalt. Telephone pole upper right is wrapped in insulation then a barrier of cinder.

The June 27th lava flow crossed AP‘A‘ā Street / Cemetery Road at 3:50 AM, HST, Saturday morning, October 25, 2014. In this photo, which was taken at about 9 AM Saturday, the flow is moving from right to left, with burning asphalt visible along it's NW margin. A utility pole, far right, was surrounded by lava but remained standing at the time of the photo.