Fresh lava returns to Puu Oo crater on Hawaii
Fourteen days after the lava stopped after twenty five years of flowing, raising concerns it might be over for good, fresh lava has been found at the collapsed floor of the Pu'u O'o crater, the source of lava for most of those years. The presence of new lava in the bottom of Pu'u O'o crater was confirmed by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) on Monday July 2. The fresh flows were first reported by local helicopter tour operators between 8 and 9 a.m. on Monday morning.
The lava was flowing across the crater floor, which sank more than 350 feet over the last two weeks. Loud, gas-jetting noises could be heard associated with spattering on the crater floor. HVO monitoring instruments detected a slightly elevated seismic tremor. A University of Hawaii infra-sound array identified signals from Pu'u Oo, suggesting change was in the works.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the state and has lately been getting hundreds more visitors per day, even while overall Big Island arrivals by air ran a fifth below last year.