Kīlauea Eruption Is a Long-Term Problem for People Living on the Big Island

The channel of lava from Fissure 8 (in the background), seen on July 10, 2018. USGS/HVO. It is hard to believe, but the eruption on the lower East Rift Zone of Kīlauea shows no signs of stopping. The lava erupting from Fissure 8 just keeps coming, adding more to the big island of Hawai'i as the lava snakes its way to the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, up at the summit of the volcano, the Halema'uma'u Caldera continues to see dramatic changes as the whole surface slowly collapses with the daily explosions and earthquakes. The eruption itself is now the largest known historic eruption on Kīlauea (which means the last 200 years). The lava flows from Fissure 8 (top) are moving mainly through channels created by the lava itself. As the lava moves, the edges cool and you build levees on each side of the flow, building a perched channel where the lava continues to move (see below). Sometimes, those levees are topped over or breached and smaller flows can leak out the sides of the major channel. That seems to be the current pattern in the Leilani Gardens flow field and those breakouts are what are expanding the area that these lava flows are covering on the land. Otherwise, the lava either builds up the thickness of the new lava flow field or spills out to the Pacific (below). The entire lava flow field now covers ~29 km^2 (11.2 square miles) and has added ~2.5 km^2 (630 acres) to the island.