Eruption continues with low fountaining, spattering at Kīlauea summit on Big Isle

Webcam images show the eruption within Kaluapele, the summit caldera of Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island, continues from vents on the southwest side of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, exhibiting weaker activity after resuming Thursday evening.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists on the caldera rim observed the onset of spattering and low fountaining at about 6 p.m. Friday.

Effusion of lava during the past day produced a small but enlarging fan of flows close to the vent in the southwest portion of the crater.

Geologists in the field this morning reported continued low fountaining and spattering, as well as continued effusion of short lava flows near the vent.

The eruption of small, degassed lava flows preceded high fountaining during the second episode of the eruption by 3 to 4 hours. However, the current low level eruptive activity has gone on for more than a day.

“It is uncertain if it will be followed by high fountaining,” said the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Saturday in its daily Kīlauea update. “Previous summit eruptions have exhibited vigorous activity in the opening days which can episodically wax and wane, or drop over time to sustainable low effusion rates, or slowly diminish and end.”

You can view a livestream of the Kīlauea summit eruption on YouTube.

Seismicity at the summit since Friday has been low, with just one small earthquake.

Otherwise, seismic tremor also remains low but has increased gradually during the past day with the increase in fountaining.

Summit tiltmeters have recorded gradual inflationary tilt during the past day.

Sulfur dioxide emissions remain elevated, with a gas plume rising above the caldera this morning, but outgassing vigor is greatly reduced compared to the periods of higher lava fountaining.

There are several hazards to watch for during an eruption; however, high levels of volcanic gas — primarily water vapor, carbon dioxide and SO2 — are the primary hazard of concern with this eruption.

Gases can have far-reaching effects downwind. As SO2 is continuously released during the eruption, it reacts in the atmosphere to create as vog, or volcanic smog. 

A quick look at the Hawai‘i Department of Health SO2 Index at about 2:30 p.m. today showed sulfur dioxide levels around the island are mostly good, with the Ocean View area experiencing moderate levels.

This is the third episode of the eruption, which is confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the downdropped block within the summit caldera  inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

The eruption began during the early morning of Dec. 23, starting like most others, with vigorous lava, volcanic gas emission and high lava fountaining, especially during the second eruptive episode.

It has paused twice since.

This is the sixth eruption since 2020 inside Kīlauea’s summit caldera.

Eruptions in the summit region have typically lasted about a week to more than a year.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and is in contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and Hawai‘i County Civil Defense. 

See the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information.

The observatory also reports no unusual activity has been noted along the volcano’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

Kīlauea’s volcano alert level remains at Watch and its aviation color code is still at Orange.