Volcano Watch — The pressure is on, within Kīlauea and for volcanologists to foretell what’s next
Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates. This week's article is being issued on Friday due to the holiday on Thursday. Episodic eruptions have occurred before on Kīlauea at the start of the 1983 Puʻuʻōʻō and the 1969 Maunaulu eruptions (44 and 12 episodes each) on the middle East Rift Zone, and during the 1959 Kīlauea Iki summit eruption (17 episodes). While the recent Kīlauea summit eruption is currently paused, persistent night glow from the vent and continued strong degassing indicate molten magma is probably within 150–300
Photo and Video Chronology — January 7, 2025 — Kīlauea summit eruption remains paused
The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23 remains paused as of 8:40 pm on Friday, January 3. Glow persists from the cones on the southwest side of the caldera. A gas plume rises from the inactive vent at Kīlauea summit, two days after the pause in lava effusion. The vent was quiet, with no audible sound—a contrast with the sounds of lava fountaining, akin to loud crashing waves, on earlier days. USGS video by M. Patrick. Looking out across Kaluapele, Kīlauea summit caldera, from the south rim, small islands of solidified crust dot the area of the
Photo and Video Chronology — January 3, 2025 — Overflight of Kīlauea summit eruption
The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23 continues this morning. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted a monitoring overflight at approximately 7 a.m. HST. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists captured these videos of the Kīlauea summit on January 3, 2025, during a morning overflight at approximately 7 a.m. HST. With permission from Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, geologists landed in Halemaʻumaʻu, which is home to the Native Hawaiian elemental force associated with lava, Pele. Geologists collected a molten sample of lava, which is quickly quenched with water in a metal bucket. Later geochemical analyses of the sample will provide
Photo and Video Chronology — January 2, 2025 — Vigorous lava fountaining continues at Kīlauea summit
The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23, continues as of January 2. Over the past day, vents in the southwest portion of the caldera have continued producing a fan of lava flows covering the western portion of the crater floor during sustained lava fountaining. Get Our News These items are in the RSS feed format (Really Simple Syndication) based on categories such as topics, locations, and more. You can install and RSS reader browser extension, software, or use a third-party service to receive immediate news updates depending on the feed that you have added. If you click
Photo and Video Chronology — December 31, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption continues
Here, a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist takes images and measurements of lava fountain heights during the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on December 31, 2024; the eruption began on December 23 and has continued in episodic pulses. Geologists conduct shifts throughout the week to monitor the eruption and note any changes. On December 31, fountain heights reached approximately 80 feet (25 meters) and lava flows continued to cover the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Observatory staff wear personal protective equipment such gas masks to protect themselves from volcanic gas emissions that can quickly change with the winds and eruptive activity. USGS photo
Photo and Video Chronology — December 28 & 29, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption continues
Maintenance of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's instrumental monitoring network is an ever-ongoing process, but it is especially important during eruptions. Here, two scientists perform repairs on a gas monitoring station located just west of Kaluapele—Kīlauea's summit caldera—on Saturday, December 28, 2024. An upward-looking spectrometer measures the amount of sulfur dioxide (SO2) passing over the station, and when combined with data from other similar instruments located downwind of the ongoing eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, an approximate SO2 emission rate can be calculated. USGS photo by M. Zoeller.
Photo and Video Chronology — December 30, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption continues
Maintenance of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's instrumental monitoring network is an ever-ongoing process, but it is especially important during eruptions. Here, two scientists perform repairs on a gas monitoring station located just west of Kaluapele—Kīlauea's summit caldera—on Saturday, December 28, 2024. An upward-looking spectrometer measures the amount of sulfur dioxide (SO2) passing over the station, and when combined with data from other similar instruments located downwind of the ongoing eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, an approximate SO2 emission rate can be calculated. USGS photo by M. Zoeller.
Photo and Video Chronology — December 27, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption continues
Lava fountains reached heights of up to 80 meters (262 feet) high during the December 23-25, 2024, Kīlauea summit eruption and tephra was deposited to the south across the old Crater Rim Drive (a closed part of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park). In this photo, taken around 10 a.m. HST on December 27, 2024, during a USGS Hawiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight, the medium-brown colored material draping the landscape to the south of the crater rim is the tephra from this eruption. It completely covered portions of Crater Rim Drive and is being more reworked by the wind with each passing
Volcano Watch — Kīlauea summit erupts again
Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates. The eruption at the summit of Kīlauea volcano on December 24, 2024. Several vents along the southwest of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor feed lava flows on the floor of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera). The new eruption within Kaluapele (the summit caldera) began at approximately 2:20 a.m. HST on December 23, 2024. Lava fountains reached heights of nearly 300 feet (91 meters) and lava flows covered more than 650 acres (2.6 square kilometers) during two distinct eruptive episodes between December 23 and 25. Both
Photo and Video Chronology — December 25, 2024 — Kīlauea summit eruption pauses
Lava began draining back into the vent at 11:00 a.m. on December 25, at nearly the same time that summit tiltmeters began recording a change from deflation to inflation. Seismic tremor also decreased markedly at the same time. The pattern was similar but more abrupt than the onset of the pause on Monday, December 23, that occurred between 3 and 4 p.m. Episode 2 lasted a little over 24 hours, which is about twice the duration of the first eruptive episode. Prior summit eruptions have lasted days to weeks and there is a high probability that this eruption will resume