March 26, 2011 4:00pm Press Release—Lava returns to Kīlauea Volcano's east rift zone

March 6, 2011 6:15pm Press Release—Fissure on Kilauea's east rift zone continues to erupt

March 5, 2011 6:30pm Press Release—Pu`u `Ō `ō crater floor collapse followed by middle east rift zone eruption

March 5, 2011. View looking at the NE end of the actively propagating fissure located between Pu`u `Ō `ō and
Napau. Lava is just breaking the surface in foreground crack.

This month in Hawaiian volcano history . . . .

March 19, 2008 One week after vigorous fuming began near the base of the east wall of Halema'uma'u Crater, an explosive eruption—the first at Kīlauea's summit since 1924—blasted out hot, rocky debris to the crater's rim and formed a vent on the floor of the crater. Thus began Kīlauea's most recent summit eruption, which continues today. Recent eruption update images show how the Halema'uma'u vent has enlarged from 35 m (115 ft) in 2008 (right) to more than 150 m (475 ft) in diameter in March 2011. March 25, 1984 Following 18 months of increased seismicity and summit inflation, Mauna Loa's most recent eruption began at 1:30 a.m. HST, when a fissure (left) opened in Moku`āweoweo, the volcano's summit caldera. By 4:00 a.m., the eruption had migrated into Mauna Loa's upper east rift zone, where active fissures eventually reached the 9,300-ft elevation. Fast-moving 'a'ā flows advanced downslope, and in a matter of days, lava was within 6 km (4 miles) of Hilo city limits. Fortunately, the eruption ended on April 15 before lava reached Hilo. March 18, 1921 The ever-present lava lake in Halema'uma'u Crater overflowed in a 7-day event that Thomas A. Jaggar described as "the most rapid and violent display of overflowing yet exhibited in 1921." On March 19, as 12-m- (40-ft-) high fountains erupted in Halema'uma'u, flows spilled through a gap in the crater's rim, sending torrents of lava into Kīlauea's south caldera (right). Historic hand-colored photo courtesy of Roger and Barbara Myers.