During 6-12 March HVO reported that the circulating lava lake periodically rose and fell in the deep pit within Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Crater. The plume from the vent continued to deposit variable amounts of ash, spatter, and Pele's hair onto nearby areas.

At Pu'u 'O'o Crater, glow emanated from four spatter cones on the crater floor. Multiple lava flows from the NE spatter cone, collectively and informally called the Kahauale'a flow, traveled across the NE flank of Pu'u 'O'o cone to the cone's base and advanced more than 3.5 km NE over older flows. A branch also traveled S, just S of Pu'u Kahauale'a, but possibly stalled at the end of the week. Lava flows were active above the pali (5 km SE of Pu'u 'O'o), on the pali, and on the coastal plain. Web cameras recorded steam plumes from lava sporadically entering the ocean at multiple locations. A second lava-flow branch was active near the coast and a third branch was active near the base of the pali.

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)