Kīlauea volcano erupts along Halemaʻumaʻu crater Sunday

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory announced that an eruption started along the Big Island’s Kīlauea volcano’s Halemaʻumaʻu crater Sunday afternoon.

Live webcam footage from the volcano showed fountains of lava projecting out of the area after increased earthquake activity and changes in the patterns of ground deformation at Kīlauea’s summit that began that afternoon.

At approximately 3:15 p.m., the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory observed eruptive activity in Kīlauea summit webcam images and from field reports indicating that an eruption commenced within Halemaʻumaʻu crater and on the down dropped block to the east in Kīlauea’s summit caldera, within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. 

The eruption was preceded by a period of strong seismicity and rapid uplift of the summit.

The eruption is occurring at a fissure along the margin of Halemaʻumaʻu crater on the east side.

The opening phases of eruptions are dynamic. Webcam imagery shows fissures at the base of Halemaʻumaʻu crater generating lava flows on the surface of the crater floor. The activity is confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the hazards will be reassessed as the eruption progresses.

Hawai’i County Civil Defense released an alert shortly after the eruption, stating the eruption is confined to within the Hale Ma`uma`u Crater at the Kilauea Summit, and no communities are threatened at this time.