The volcanic activity changed significantly a few hours ago by extending to the northeastern flank: new batches of magma continued to rise from inside the volcano, forming new internal sheet-like pathways known as dikes, that eventually broke through the surface as eruptive fissures on the upper NE flank.
These new fissures started to feed several new lava flows upslope of the Mauna Loa Weather Observatory.
The propagation of magma inside the volcano from the SW and central area toward the NE is also reflected by the location of recent earthquake epicenters clustered along a SW-NE extending line, corresponding to the internal location of dikes. See also our interactive earthquake map of recent quakes under Maunaloa.
The fissure vents are located at high elevations within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
According to the HVO, lava flows are not threatening communities and it seems the effusive eruption will likely remain in the Northeast Rift Zone.
