HVO reported that during 14-20 January lava flowed SE through a tube system from underneath Kilauea's Thanksgiving Eve Breakout (TEB) and rootless shield complex, reaching the Waikupanaha ocean entry. Surface flows were noted on the coastal plain and incandescence was seen on the pali. Explosions at the ocean entry were seen on 17 and 18 January. Variable winds caused the County Viewing Area to close during 14-16 January.

The vent in Halema'uma'u crater continued to produce a predominantly white plume that drifted mainly SW. Variable winds occasionally caused poor air quality around the summit; on 16 January sulfur dioxide concentrations in the air reached unsafe levels. On 17 January, a geologist near the vent heard rockfalls, and rock impact and rushing sounds. Vent rim collapses the next day caused a dusting of fine tephra, and on 20 January faint incandescence from deep within the vent was noted.

Geological Summary. Kilauea overlaps the E flank of the massive Mauna Loa shield volcano in the island of Hawaii. Eruptions are prominent in Polynesian legends; written documentation since 1820 records frequent summit and flank lava flow eruptions interspersed with periods of long-term lava lake activity at Halemaumau crater in the summit caldera until 1924. The 3 x 5 km caldera was formed in several stages about 1,500 years ago and during the 18th century; eruptions have also originated from the lengthy East and Southwest rift zones, which extend to the ocean in both directions. About 90% of the surface of the basaltic shield volcano is formed of lava flows less than about 1,100 years old; 70% of the surface is younger than 600 years. The long-term eruption from the East rift zone between 1983 and 2018 produced lava flows covering more than 100 km2, destroyed hundreds of houses, and added new coastline.

Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)