Lava Collapse at Halemaʻumaʻu Triggers Small Explosion

At 9:48 PM on Friday, August 23, a collapse of a piece of the wall above the lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu triggered a small explosion.

The explosion bombarded the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu around the old visitor Overlook with molten gobs of spatter as big as dinner plates.

The explosion bombarded the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu around the old visitor overlook with molten gobs of spatter as big as dinner plates. Dense lithic fragments from the collapsed wall, and at least as large as a baseball, were also thrown back out of the vent and onto the rim. These images were recorded by a webcam positioned on the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu, about 120 m (395 ft) above the lake surface.

Photos courtesy of Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory

The smaller time-stamp at the upper left corner is the correct acquisition time (the larger time-stamp is based on the camera clock, which drifts over time).