Lava fountains up to 100 feet high to begin Episode 31 of ongoing Kīlauea episodic eruption
Episode 31 of the ongoing episodic eruption of Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island began at 2:04 p.m. Aug. 22, with lava fountaining from the north vent.
National Weather Service forecasters say winds are blowing from the northeast at 15 to 20 miles per hour, suggesting volcanic gas emissions and volcanic material could be distributed to the south and southwest of the Kīlauea summit caldera.
Find a summary of volcanic hazards from eruptions — which include volcanic smog, or vog, and Pele’s hair during this episodie eruption — at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website.
All eruptive activity is confined to Halemaʻumaʻu Crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park; commercial airports in Hawai‘i County will not be affected by this activity.
Three Kīlauea summit livestream videos that show eruptive lava fountains are available:
Episode 31 was preceded by continuous spatter in the north vent that began at about 8:30 a.m. today and continued to increase in intensity until 11:45 a.m., when precursory lava overflows began.
Fountaining from the north vent began at 2:04 p.m., with lava ejecting about 100 feet high, feeding multiple lava streams by 2:15 p.m. onto the crater floor.
Past episodes have produced fountains of greater than 1,000 feet high that produce eruptive plumes up to 20,000 feet above ground level.
Inflationary tilt had reached just more than 22 microradians since the end of Episode 30. Seismic tremor began increasing and tilt switched from inflationary to deflationary at about 2 p.m., about the same time lava flows began erupting onto the crater floor.
Most episodes of Halemaʻumaʻu lava fountaining since the episodic eruption began Dec. 23, 2024, have continued for about a day or less and have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting generally at least several days.
No changes have been detected in 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.
All current and recent activity is confined within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor Kīlauea.
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