Pu`u`Ō`ō’s crater floor collapses
The Watchers - EYE
The geologists with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory have released a first look at the new fissure eruption that just started today between Pu`u `O`o and Napau Crater. According to geologists, the first portion of the video was shot from the air looking southwest at the fissure eruption between Pu`u `O`o and Napau Crater. The fissure segment in the tephra in the foreground opened seconds earlier, and only about 10 minutes after the eruption as a whole started. The cracks through the tephra are in the process of opening, though this can’t be picked out at this distance. Meanwhile, the current Volcano Alert Level for Kilauea on Hawaii Island has been upgraded from Watch to Warning, and the current aviation color code has been upgraded from “orange” to “red.
Ash cloud rising from Pu`u `Ō `ō as crater floor collapses due to magma withdrawal. Incandescent rubble can be seen crumbling and rolling down the scarp. The east rim of Pu`u `Ō `ō is in the foreground.
March 7, 2011
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http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/03/07/puuoos-crater-floor-collapses/