However , that lava flow stopped just short of the village of Pahoa . In 2016 a new flow ( called Episode 61G by the United States Geological Survey ) emerged from Puʻu ʻŌʻō in a southerly direction , the shortest way to the ocean , across an area that had been covered in lava during the preceding decades . The emergency road connecting Hwy 130 to the Chain of Craters Road was severed by the new flow . In 2018 this road was again cleared through the 2016 lava to provide emergency access around the 2018 lower Puna eruption
2018 lower Puna eruption
2018 lower Puna eruption
Puna, Hawaii