Park closure extending from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent to the ocean/NPS map, Mark Wasser

Nearly 16,000 acres in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park have been closed to visitors due to the threat posed by increased volcanic activity in the park.

Park staff said the closure was prompted by the possibility of an eruption and unstable geologic activity. The impacted area covers 15,688 acres near Kīlauea Volcano’s Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent to the ocean, including the gravel emergency access road from the eastern gate near Kalapana, to the western gate at the end of Chain of Craters Road, and all land on the makai (ocean) side of the emergency road.

“The recent eruption changes and increased seismicity around the East Rift Zone and Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent may threaten land and the community outside the park. The partial closure in the park is necessary to prevent unsafe travel onto lands under the jurisdiction of Hawai‘i County and to keep people safe,” said park Superintendent Cindy Orlando. “Most of the park, which is 333,308 acres in size, remains open.”

On Monday afternoon the crater within Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō collapsed, and a flurry of low magnitude earthquakes has been shaking the eastern side of the island, particularly communities in lower Puna. A small fissure opened to the west of the vent on Tuesday, but scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported that an intrusion of magma was heading eastward from the vent towards Highway 130.

This image is from a temporary thermal camera positioned on the northwest flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, looking southeast at Puʻu ʻŌʻō's summit crater. The temperature scale is in degrees Celsius up to a maximum of 500 degrees (932 degrees Fahrenheit) for this camera model, and scales automatically based on the maximum and minimum temperatures within the frame. Thick fume, image pixel size and other factors often result in image temperatures being lower than actual surface temperatures/Hawaii Volcano Observatory

The Hawaii Volcano Observatory also reported that cracks had opened up in some roads in and around Leilani Estates in lower Puna, and that a nearly half-mile-long crack was found on the western side of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

"A small amount of lava was apparently erupted from the crack, based on the presence of nearby tiny pads of lava and spatter, but it was no longer active when HVO geologists saw it during the overflight," the observatory noted on its website.

The current eruption at Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō is off limits to hikers. However, the summit of Kīlauea continues to erupt within Halema‘uma‘u Crater within the park, and is best viewed from the Jaggar Museum overlook. The lava lake within the crater has risen dramatically since April 21, and has occasionally spilled onto the crater floor. The park is open 24 hours a day.