Lava has resumed flowing into Pu'u 'O'o crater in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, scientists said yesterday, 15 days after the flow of magma took a new path, triggering hundreds of earthquakes and causing Pu'u 'O'o to partially collapse.

Helicopter tour operators reported fresh flows at Pu'u 'O'o yesterday morning, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.

Scientists there reported yesterday afternoon that lava was flowing across the crater floor, which sank at least 100 yards during the pause in the magma flow that began June 17.

Loud, gas-jetting noises could be heard along with spattering of lava on the crater floor, the observatory said.

The crater was filled with fumes, making the new lava difficult to see.

The observatory also indicated that the flow of lava to the ocean, which halted June 20, could resume. Scientists noted that a similar event happened in 1997, when lava resumed flowing to Pu'u 'O'o after a 23-day pause and the ocean lava flow resumed a week after that.

Chain of Craters Road was closed for 12 days following the June 17 swarm of earthquakes, which signaled a magma intrusion into the upper East Rift Zone, causing the rift to expand and open several large cracks.

Two days later, lava briefly flowed from a 275-yard fissure in a remote part of the rift zone near Kane nui o Hamo, but the flow ended within hours.