During 16-22 June HVO reported that activity at Kilauea continued from the summit and the east rift zone. At the summit, the level of a lava-pool surface in the deep pit inset within the floor of Halema'uma'u crater remained mostly stable; glow from the vent was also visible at night. A plume from the vent mainly drifted SW, dropping small amounts of tephra, and occasionally fresh spatter, downwind.

At the east rift zone, lava flows that broke out of the TEB lava-tube system built up a number of rootless shields between 580 and 520 m elevation. Satellite images showed thermal anomalies from minor lava flows originating from the shields. The Pu'u 'O'o web camera views of a lava pond on the crater floor, that was an estimated 300 x 150 m in dimension, were often obscured by fumes. One small lava flow was seen on the crater floor on 18 June. Scientists saw a new gas vent on the E wall of the crater during an overflight on 21 June that had generated incandescence during the previous few days.

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)