Hawaiian Volcano Observatory 

Lava Flow Hazard Assessment, as of August 

2007, for Kīlauea East Rift Zone Eruptions, 

Hawai‘i Island 

By Jim Kauahikaua 

Report Series 2007-1264 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey 
U.S. Department of the Interior 

DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Mark D. Myers, Director 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2007 

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Suggested citation: 

Kauahikaua, Jim, 2007, Lava flow hazard assessment, as of August 2007, for Kīlauea East Rift Zone 

eruptions, Hawai‘i Island: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1264, 9 p.

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ii
Contents

Abstract.........................................................................................................................................1 

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................1 

Lava Flow Hazards posed by Kīlauea Volcano in the Puna District..............................................1 

Lava Flow Hazard Zones are a qualitative estimate of inundation frequency ............................2 

Estimating paths of future lava flows across the Puna District ...................................................2 

The Current Situation: the July 21 fissure eruption .......................................................................4 

What immediate hazards does the newest eruptive activity pose? ...............................................6 

What future hazards does the newest eruptive activity pose?.......................................................7 

The 7/21 fissure activity stops....................................................................................................7 

The 7/21 fissure activity continues to feed a channel that spawn ‘a‘ā lava flows .......................7 

The 7/21 fissure channel crusts over and spawns pāhoehoe lava flows and tubes ...................7 

Conclusions as of August 16, 2007...............................................................................................8 

References Cited ..........................................................................................................................8 

Figures 

1. Map for part of the Puna District. Shown in red are lava flows from the 7/21 fissure eruption. 

Pink lines show paths of steepest descent. Yellow, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Kupaianaha flow field (1983-

2007); green, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park not covered by Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Kupaianaha lava 

flows..............................................................................................................................................3 

2. Calculated flow paths superimposed on geologic map of Island of Hawai‘i...............................4 

3. Lava flow map as of August 26, 2007. Black lines and arrowheads show the tracks of four ‘a‘ā

flows that started from the fissure D channel. Gray represents primarily ‘a‘ā lava flows emplaced 

during the fountaining episodes of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (1983-1986); green represents forested areas not 

inundated by lava flows since 1977; yellow represents primarily pāhoehoe lava flows emplaced 

from 1986 to 1992 .........................................................................................................................5 

4. Looking back toward Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, a perched lava pond was forming over fissure D in this July 

23, 2007 photo. Pu‘u Kahauale‘a is the vegetated cone behind the perched pond.......................6 

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Lava Flow Hazard Assessment, as of August 

2007, for Kīlauea East Rift Zone Eruptions, 

Hawai‘i Island 

By Jim Kauahikaua1

Abstract 

The most recent episode in the ongoing Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Kupaianaha eruption of Kīlauea 

Volcano is currently producing lava flows north of the east rift zone. Although they pose no 

immediate threat to communities, changes in flow behavior could conceivably cause future flows to 

advance downrift and impact communities thus far unaffected. This report reviews lava flow 

hazards in the Puna District and discusses the potential hazards posed by the recent change in 

activity. Members of the public are advised to increase their general awareness of these hazards and 

stay up-to-date on current conditions. 

Introduction 

The ongoing Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Kupaianaha eruption of Kīlauea Volcano has been producing lava flows 

for more than 24 years. The vast majority of those flows advanced to the southeast, destroying 

nearly 200 structures and covering 117 km2

 (almost 29,000 acres). On July 21, 2007, a fissure 

opened immediately east of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and, initially, sent short flows to both the north and south 

sides of the rift zone from lava ponds perched over the fissures. The south-trending flows stagnated 

as eruptive activity became increasingly localized at the easternmost end of the fissure. Over the 

next few weeks, a lava flow fed from the east end of the fissure advanced 6 km to the northeast, 

stalled, and produced additional flows advancing along the northern edge of the previous flow (fig. 

1). 

The change in vent location, focus of lava flows to the northeast, and the potential longevity of the 

eruption warrants a hazard assessment that specifically addresses the current eruptive situation and 

discusses plausible outcomes. As of August 26, 2007, lava flows posed no immediate threats to any 

communities. 

Lava flow hazards by Kīlauea Volcano in the Puna District 

The Puna District has been inundated by lava flows from both the summit and east rift zone of 

Kīlauea Volcano in the last several hundred years. The east rift zone has been active frequently, 

with at least 15 eruptions in Puna since 1900. Most of these eruptions have produced lava flows 

that either stayed within the rift zone or flowed south or southeast toward the coast. In 1840, a lava 

 

1

 Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, HI 96718 

1
flow advanced through what is now Nānāwale Estates and entered the ocean immediately east of 

Hawaiian Beaches subdivision. Much of the Puna District north of the east rift zone was last 

inundated by lava during a 60-year eruption in the 15th century (Clague and others, 1999). 

Lava flow hazard zones are a qualitative estimate of inundation frequency 

The USGS Hawai‘i Island Lava Flow Hazard Zone (LFHZ) map (Wright and others, 1992) is a 

qualitative assessment of the hazards for the island. The Puna District includes hazard zones 1, 2, 

and 3. Zone 1 includes actual and possible vent areas. Zone 2 consists of “areas adjacent to and 

downslope of active rift zones.” Zone 3 includes “areas gradationally less hazardous than Zone 2 

because of greater distance from recently active vents and/or because the topography makes it less 

likely that flows will cover these areas.” All areas can expect inundation by lava flows in the long 

term with higher-numbered zones being inundated less frequently than the lower-numbered zones. 

The most recent east rift zone activity is the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Kupaianaha eruption that started in 1983 

and has inundated areas within LFHZ 1, 2, and 3. The July 21 fissure is within LFHZ 1 and the lava 

flows are, so far, progressing along the boundary between zone 1 and 3. The area south of the east 

rift zone is in LFHZ 2; the area north of zone 1 near Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and the July 21 fissure is in zone 3. 

Estimating paths of future lava flows across the Puna District 

For current and future eruptions, lava flow paths may be estimated by calculating the path of 

steepest descent using an appropriate digital elevation model (DEM) of the Puna District. Tools 

calculating “paths of steepest descent” are commonplace in many Geographic Information System 

(GIS) software packages. The topography is first represented by a numerical grid; the topography 

of the Puna District was represented by a square grid in which each element measures 30 m by 30 

m. IDRISI GIS routines then calculate how a gravitationally driven flow would move from each 

element in the grid to every other element. A second grid is produced in which each cell contains 

an integer representing the number of grid elements that flow into each cell. The actual flow paths 

can then be extracted by selecting only the grid elements that receive flow from a minimum number 

of other elements. For example, figure 1 shows a map of the grid elements that receive flow from 

more than 1,000 upslope grid elements in the Puna District. A representation of this calculation was 

included in the Hawai‘i State Lava Flow Hazard Mitigation Plan (Hawai‘i State Civil Defense, 

2002). 

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Figure 1. Map for part of the Puna District. Shown in red are lava flows from the 7/21 fissure eruption. Pink 

lines show paths of steepest descent. Yellow, Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Kupaianaha flow field (1983-2007); green, Hawai‘i 

Volcanoes National Park not covered by Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō – Kupaianaha lava flows. 

The resulting map characterizes how fluids, such as water and lava, would drain across the 

topography. If Puna could support streams and rivers, the drainage pattern might look like figure 1. 

The pattern of these flow paths is rather simple; the east rift zone forms a topographic divide, and 

flows starting north of the divide advance northeastward while flows starting south of the divide 

advance southeastward. 

Of course, these calculations are only as good as the accuracy of the DEM. Lava flows are 

notorious for responding to very subtle local topographic variations, although they still respond 

predictably on a regional scale. The paths presented in figure 1 are reasonable approximations. 

These paths should, therefore, provide useful guides to where initial flows would travel, and they 

compare well with the paths of actual flows portrayed on the geologic map of Hawai‘i Island (fig. 

2; Trusdell and others, 2006). 

3
Figure 2. Calculated flow paths superimposed on geologic map of Island of Hawai‘i. 

Lava flows change the topography, so that subsequent flows will travel along new paths of steepest 

descent incorporating the new, lava-flow-included topography. Because this lava-included 

topography doesn’t exist yet, it can’t be included in any DEMs. Therefore the paths of steepest 

descent shown here are useful for estimating only the initial paths of lava flow advancement. Past 

tests of this method show that the forecast paths would have been very useful indicators for the 

direction followed by the Mauna Loa 1984 lava flow (Kauahikaua and others, 2003) and for the 

path of the 2002 Mother’s Day flow on Kīlauea that sparked numerous forest fires. Figure 2 also 

shows that both the northernmost flows erupted from early Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and the 7/21 lava flows to the 

northeast are following these paths. 

The current situation: the July 21 fissure eruption 

Events leading up to the July 21 fissure eruption began on June 17, 2007, when an earthquake 

swarm started beneath the Mauna Ulu area in the upper east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano. 

Earthquake hypocenters migrated first uprift and then downrift late on June 18–the classic signal of 

an intrusion. GPS receivers spanning the rift zone in this area began to show extension across the 

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rift zone, also supporting this interpretation. By daylight on June 19, a very small eruption had 

taken place on the east flank of Kāne Nui o Hamo, the lava shield immediately north of Makaopuhi 

Crater. 

Coincident with the intrusion and eruption, the crater floor in Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō collapsed as much as 100 

m, and all signs of eruption-related activity stopped. Lava was absent until July 2, when a small 

amount was seen oozing from the crater floor rubble. Over the next 18 days, lava formed a perched 

lava pond within the crater. In addition to the lava fill, the entire interior of the crater, including the 

lava fill and the talus piles at the base of the crater walls, began to rise starting on or about July 10, 

possibly indicating shallow pressurization of a magma reservoir beneath the crater. 

Just after midnight on the morning of July 21, 2007, a 2.1-km-long set of fissures opened east of 

Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater coincident with another collapse of the crater floor. The fissure had four segments, 

labeled A, B, C, and D (fig. 3). Segment A became inactive within several hours while segments B, 

C, and D built perched ponds and sent short flows southeastward. Within a few days, however, 

most of the activity was concentrated at fissure segment D, the lowest and easternmost fissure. 

Figure 3. Lava flow map as of August 26, 2007. Black lines and arrowheads show the tracks of four ‘a‘ā flows 

that started from the fissure D channel. Gray represents primarily ‘a‘ā lava flows emplaced during the 

fountaining episodes of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (1983-1986); green represents forested areas not inundated by lava flows since 

1977; yellow represents primarily pāhoehoe lava flows emplaced from 1986 to 1992. 

By July 26, the northeast edge of the perched pond atop fissure D failed, and lava spilled out to 

form a channel feeding an ‘a‘ā flow. The first flow advanced 6.3 km before stalling by about 

August 13. The channel breached about halfway along the first flow and formed a second flow 

5
toward the north. By August 24, a second breach occurred, starting flow 3 (and starving flow 2 of 

lava), and followed by a third breach, starting flow 4 and starving flow 3 of lava. Thus, three ‘a‘ā

flows have stalled and a fourth is active at this writing on August 26 (fig. 3). 

Figure 4. Looking back toward Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, a perched lava pond was forming over fissure D in this July 23, 2007 

photo. Pu‘u Kahauale‘a is the vegetated cone behind the perched pond. 

Because fissure D is now within the walls of the former perched pond that formed over it, all lava 

flows are directed north and northeast. 

What immediate hazards does the newest eruptive activity 

pose? 

Lava flows moving through forest can trigger methane explosions and forest fires. Methane 

explosions are hazards local to the flow front and margins of an advancing lava flow. The 

explosions can propel rock and molten lava up to one hundred meters (300 feet) into the air. The 

threat of forest fires ignited by lava flows is highest whenever dry vegetation is encountered. 

Therefore changes in the fire threat are dependent mostly on changes in meteorology and/or 

vegetation type. 

Beyond these hazards, the current episode poses no direct and immediate lava flow threat to nearby 

communities as long as eruptive conditions do not change. 

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What future hazards might the newest eruptive activity pose? 

There are three possible outcomes to the current activity. Each has different hazard implications. 

The 7/21 fissure activity stops 

The eruptive activity could revert to Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō and continue in much the same manner as it has for 

the last few years. If the eruption stops altogether, the longer the lack of activity persists, the greater 

the probability that the next Kīlauea eruption will be elsewhere on the volcano. These become the 

same probabilities and the same hazards addressed in the long-term hazard outlook. 

The 7/21 fissure activity continues to feed a channel that spawns ‘a‘ā lava 

flows 

If the eruption continues to supply lava at the same rate to an open channel feeding ‘a‘ā lava flows, 

then individual flows will rarely advance more than a few kilometers (miles) from the fissure. This 

is primarily because so much heat is lost from the open channel (Cashman and others, 1999) that 

the lava viscosity increases to the point that the flow can no longer advance. Once the terminal 

length is achieved, the flow front stalls and lava overflows the channel behind the front to start 

another ‘a‘ā flow. 

The lengths of channel-fed ‘a‘ā flows are controlled by the effusion rate feeding them (Pinkerton 

and Wilson, 1994). Higher effusion rates allow lava to travel farther from the vent. Thus, if the 

effusion rate from the 7/21 fissure were to increase significantly, the length of the resulting 

channel-fed ‘a‘ā flows would likewise increase. Of course, if the eruption rate were to decrease yet 

maintain an open channel, ‘a‘ā flows fed by that channel would not advance as far or would stall. 

As of August 26, the 7/21 fissure eruption has produced four ‘a‘ā flows, each advancing along the 

northern edge of the previous flow with a maximum length of 6.3 km (4 miles). Without a 

significant increase in effusion rate, ‘a‘ā flows from this vent are unlikely to travel substantially 

farther than this distance. 

Changes at the vent could potentially allow lava to flow southeastward. The flows are currently 

advancing north and northeastward around Kupaianaha. Should the erupting lava spill over the low 

walls to the south of fissure D, flows could also advance to the southeast. 

The 7/21 fissure channel crusts over and spawns pāhoehoe lava flows and 

lava tubes 

If the now-open lava channel crusts over and forms a lava tube, the new structure will better 

insulate the molten lava erupting from fissure D and allow it to remain hotter farther down its path. 

Because of the improved insulation, the hotter lava will promote the formation of pāhoehoe flows. 

The combination of pāhoehoe flows and lava tubes that feed them can allow lava to flow farther 

from the vent, for a given effusion rate, than the ‘a‘ā flows that are currently erupting. 

Pāhoehoe lava flows often advance sporadically, with tubes rupturing and forming new flows and 

tubes within those flows. Regardless, the flows progress downslope. Flows from Kupaianaha, 

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which started on July 20, 1986, from a fissure in the same area, reached the ocean to the southeast 

in 4.5 months. The advance seaward was neither as a single lava flow nor at a constant rate. If 

pāhoehoe flows spread northeast from fissure D, they will likely advance at a slower rate those 

from Kupaianaha did, because the average slopes north of the rift zone are much less steep. 

As in the previous scenario with ‘a‘ā flows, substantial changes in the configuration of the vent 

could allow flows to advance southeastward. In any case, the flow paths calculated for the Puna 

District (fig. 1) will be useful to forecast paths on which lava flows will advance in any direction. 

The greatest utility of these maps is not as a future lava flow roadmap but as a guide for the way 

lava flows will advance over distances of a few kilometers (miles). Uncertainties in the DEMs used 

to calculate these paths and complexities of lava flow mechanics are the limiting factors. 

While not the current one, this scenario becomes more probable the longer the current eruptive 

activity continues. Kīlauea Volcano has never had a long-lived continuous eruption from a single 

vent that produced only ‘a‘ā flows. Relevant eruption examples from Kīlauea are the 1840 east rift 

zone eruption (~21 days of ‘a‘ā from the lowest vent); the 1919 Mauna Iki southwest rift zone 

eruption (221 days of mostly pāhoehoe; Rowland and Munro, 1993); the 1955 east rift zone 

eruption (88 days of ‘a‘ā from multiple vents); the 1960 east rift zone eruption (36 days of 

fountains and ‘a‘ā flows from one vent); the 1969-1971 and 1972-1974 Mauna Ulu eruptions 

(predominantly pāhoehoe after fountaining ceased); and the 1977 east rift zone eruption (18 days of 

‘a‘ā from one vent; Moore and others, 1980). 

Conclusions as of August 26, 2007 

Lava flows from the 7/21 fissure eruption pose no direct immediate threats to communities. 

However, possible future outcomes of the current activity outlined above warrant increased public 

awareness and enhanced monitoring. It is important to realize that the current activity and all of the 

future outcomes are consistent with the long-term lava flow hazard outlook for the Puna district 

provided in Wright and others (1992). 

Acknowledgments 

The events of the last several months have been recorded in detail by a number of current and 

former HVO staff members – Tim Orr, Frank Trusdell, Don Swanson, Mike Poland, Jeff Sutton, 

Tamar Elias, Asta Miklius, Dave Wilson, Christina Heliker, and Rick Hoblitt. This report has 

benefited greatly from discussions with HVO staff and excellent reviews by Tim Orr, Frank 

Trusdell, Don Swanson, Rick Hoblitt, and two colleagues from the University of Hawai‘i – Scott 

Rowland and Ken Hon. A special mahalo goes to Dave Sherrod, who not only reviewed the 

manuscript and offered very helpful suggestions but also greatly improved the presentation of the 

two maps. 

References cited 

Cashman, K.V., Thornber, C., and Kauahikaua, J., 1999, Cooling and crystallization of lava in open 

channels, and the transition of pāhoehoe lava to ‘a‘ā: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 61, p. 306-323. 

8
Clague, D.A., Hagstrum, J.T., Champion, D.E., and Beeson, M.H., 1999, Kīlauea summit 

overflows; their ages and distribution in the Puna District, Hawai‘i:Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 61, 

p. 363-381. 

Hawai‘i State Civil Defense, 2002, Lava flow hazard mitigation plan; Reducing the risk of lava 

flows to life and property: 75 p. 

Kauahikaua, J., Sherrod, D.R., Cashman, J.V., Heliker, C., Hon, K., Mattox, T.N., and Johnson, 

J.A., 2003, Hawaiian lava-flow dynamics during the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō-Kupaianaha eruption; a tale of two 

decades: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 166, p. 63-87 [Available free online at 

http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/prof-paper/pp1676/pp1676_04.pdf.] 

Moore, R.B., Helz, R.T., Dzurisin, D., Eaton, G.P., Koyanagi, R.Y., Lipman, P.W., Lockwood, 

J.P., and Puniwai, G.S., 1980, The 1977 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii; Journal of 

Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 7, p. 189-210. 

Pinkerton, H., and Wilson, L., 1994, Factors controlling the lengths of channel-fed lava 

flows:Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 56, p. 108-120. 

Rowland, S.K., and Munro, D.C., 1993, The 1919-1920 eruption of Mauna Iki, Kilauea; 

chronology, geologic mapping, and magma transport mechanisms: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 55, 

p. 190-203. 

Trusdell, F., Wolfe, E.W., and Jorris, J., 2006, Digital database of the geologic map of the Island of 

Hawai‘i: U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DS-144. [Available free online at 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/2005/144/.] 

Wright, T.L., Chun, J.Y.F., Espose, J., Heliker, C., Hodge, J., Lockwood, J.P., and Vogt, S., 1992, 

Map showing lava flow hazard zones, Island of Hawaii: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous 

Field Studies Map MF-2193, scale 1:250,000. 

9