Update:
Hawaii County officials are advising lower Puna residents to be prepared to evacuate should a new eruption occur on Kilauea’s East Rift Zone.
Seismicity remained high in the area Wednesday, including around Leilani Estates, where residents reported frequent shaking. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists also responded to a report of cracks forming on Kahukai Street.
Petra Wiesenbauer said she saw the cracks near her home, and they appeared to be getting wider.
“I checked my house, and everything seemed OK,” she said. “Still, it’s very unsettling.”
Geologists say magma is intruding downrift and an eruption, should one occur, could happen anywhere from Pu‘u ‘O‘o to Kapoho.
“I think that this is a situation where residents in lower Puna should stay vigilant and heed the advice of Hawaii County Civil Defense,” HVO spokeswoman Janet Babb said.
She said the ground cracks in Leilani Estates appeared to be a result of ground deformation caused by the ongoing magma intrusion. Still, Babb said they were not a sign of magma trying to surface since there was no steam.
The intrusion started following the collapse of Pu‘u ‘O‘o’s crater floor Monday afternoon.
In response, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park closed 15,688 acres to the public from near Pu‘u ‘O‘o, which sits just outside the park, down to the coast. A fissure opened west of that volcanic vent but only produced a small amount of lava.
The county’s Kalapana lava viewing and parking area is closed.
County Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno said shelters would be opened at the Pahoa Community Center and also possibly at the Keaau Community Center and Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo if new eruptions threaten homes.
Residents should get their family and business plans in order if they need to leave suddenly since they will likely have little warning, he said.
Magno said the county will be prepared to mobilize its own resources and is asking for assistance from state agencies and the National Guard.
“We’re just trying to keep that information flowing” between agencies, he said. Since early Tuesday morning, Civil Defense has been a 24-hour operation, Magno said.
Evacuations could prove challenging in an area with one main road in and out.
Magno said the county would be ready to open up the Railroad Avenue emergency evacuation route, built when the “June 27th” lava flow threatened Pahoa and Highway 130 in 2014.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey estimated that 10,674 people live in the Pahoa and Kalapana-Kapoho census tracts.
Wiesenbauer, who operates a bed and breakfast, said she stayed during the 2014 event and wasn’t planning to leave yet.
“I have a B&B and I just can’t pack up and leave,” she said.
Babb said Wednesday morning there were 100 or more minor quakes in the area the previous night. The quakes continued throughout the day.
Wiesenbauer said she could feel the shaking, which she described as “low grade,” every few minutes. She said it’s stressful, but she’s trying not to think too much about what’s out of her control.
“I tell myself we survived the past (event), and this too shall pass somehow,” Wiesenbauer said.
Kua O Ka La New Century Public Charter School said it would remain closed today due to concerns about a new eruption.
Chad Farias, Pahoa complex area superintendent, said he was looking to see if those students can be accommodated at other schools. No other schools have announced closure plans.
“We learned from 2014 how to consolidate and move our students around … so we are starting to review those processes so we know the options out there for us,” he said.
Geologists are comparing the current activity to what led up to the 1955 Kilauea eruption, which, according to the county, saw at least 24 separate volcanic vents open up. Lava covered 3,900 acres.
Jim Kauahikaua, HVO geophysicist, said Puna residents felt quakes for two to three months before that eruption started.
But the only thing certain is uncertainty. It remains unknown if an eruption will occur or where, he said.
Reporter Kirsten Johnson contributed to this report.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park closed nearly 16,000 acres on Kilauea Volcano today as the possibility for a new eruption looms over the area and surrounding communities.
Park management closed 15,688 acres near the volcano’s Puu Oo vent in the East Rift Zone, including the gravel emergency access road from the Kalapana gate to the Chain of Craters Road gate. The land makai of the emergency road is also closed to the ocean.
“The recent eruption changes and increased seismicity around the East Rift Zone and Puu Oo vent may threaten land and the community outside the park,” said Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando in a statement. “The partial closure in the park is necessary to prevent unsafe travel onto lands … and to keep people safe.”
She said most of the park remains open.
Small earthquakes continued throughout the night off of Puu Oo, prompting the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to install additional instruments on the lower part of Kilauea’s East Rift Zone to track any changes in the surface of the volcano.
“There is clearly an intrusion of magma in the lower East Rift Zone. Not all intrusions lead to an outbreak but some do. The possibility of an eruption is very much on the table,” said spokeswoman Janet Babb.
Kua O Ka La New Century Public Charter School in Pahoa closed today and Thursday as a precaution because of the increased seismic activity.
County officials said they, along with state and federal agencies, are preparing for a possible eruption by identifying shelters, and mobilizing police and road crews to ensure public safety and evacuation routes.
Lower Puna residents should stay informed and be prepared to evacuate, they warn.
As of 10 p.m. today, the section of Pahoa-Pohoiki Road between Highway 132 (Kapoho Road) and Leilani Ave. is closed in both directions due to road damage. Detours through Highway 132 and Leilani Ave. is in place.
“Should an eruption occur, residents along the East Rift Zone may have little warning. Residents in that area should be prepared to evacuate,” said Civil Defense Administrator Talmadge Magno.
“All agencies have been alerted about the possibility of an eruption,” Magno said. “The risk areas and possible hazards are being identified, and shelters have been identified.”
Hawaii County Civil Defense was activated early Tuesday because of a surge in seismic activity and ground deformation – changes in the surface of the volcano — following the collapse of the Puu Oo crater floor on the East Rift Zone. About 200 small earthquakes occurred within a 24-hour period as of 4 p.m Tuesday.
Crews sent to check the area Tuesday did not find any evidence of ground cracks or steam. However, at least a couple of cracks formed in the roadways near Leilani Estates in Puna today, offering up the latest sign that Kilauea Volcano may be drawing closer to a new eruption.
“Overnight, earthquakes continued at a high rate in the area of the rift zone from Highway 130 eastward toward Kapoho,” according to HVO’s daily update today. “Many events were felt by residents and there have been reports of nearly constant ground vibration in some areas. … An outbreak of lava in a new location along the East Rift Zone is possible but not certain. Based on the location of current seismicity, the region downrift of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, including the area east of Highway 130, remains the most likely location should an outbreak occur.”
Babb said about 100 small temblors occurred overnight, a majority of which were 2.0-magnitude temblors with occasional 3.0-magnitude. It’s continuing to migrate to the east, she added.
Field crews installed global positioning system receivers in the lower East Rift Zone Tuesday in response to the activity. Crews are gearing up to install additional seismometers in the area today.
Everyone is encouraged to remain vigilant, Babb said.
Scientists have been detecting earthquakes and ground deformation in the rift of Puu Oo since April 21 but sudden changes occurred Monday following the collapse of the crater floor.
Hawaii County Civil Defense said Tuesday that a “magma dike,” or pathway of rising magma, is making its way down toward lower Puna past Highway 130. An eruption may take place anywhere from Puu Oo east to beyond Kapoho.
Swarms of earthquakes are being felt in the area, which could precede an eruption, said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory research geophysicist Jim Kauahikaua.
He said the current earthquake activity is similar to what preceded an eruption in lower Puna district in 1955 when at least 24 separate volcanic vents opened up and down the volcano’s East Rift Zone, with lava flows covering about 3,900 acres. Coastal communities from Kalapana to Kapoho were evacuated, and sections of every public road to the coastline were buried by lava.
Lower Puna can get more information and alerts at www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts, or by signing up for automatic notices (emails or texts) about volcanic activity through the USGS Volcano Notification Service at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns/.