Kilauea's new lava flow reaches ocean

HONOLULU, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- New lava flows from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano have reached the ocean, creating a new lava tube separate from the main tube, geologists said.

Dozens of small lava flows have joined to enter the Pacific Ocean about 2,300 feet west of the main tube at Waikupanaha, said Jim Kauahikaua, lead scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The dozens of small lava flows joined across the coastal plain of Kilauea's south flank in the past several weeks and have come within 300 feet of the trail head leading to Hawaii County's lava viewing area.

As of Thursday, the new flow that crossed over the main Waikupanaha tube was entering the ocean at the west end of the Waikupanaha delta, The Honolulu Advertiser reported Friday.

Kilauea has been continuously spewing lava since January 1983 and in 1998 was the most active volcano in the world.