USGS Volcanoes: Notices released in the last day.

Lava continues to erupt slowly at Great Sitkin. Small earthquakes related to the ongoing eruption continue at a low rate. Webcam and satellite views of the volcano were cloudy over the past day. 

The current eruption of Great Sitkin Volcano began with a single explosive event in May 2021. The ongoing eruption of lava at the summit began shortly afterward, in July 2021. The volcano is monitored using local seismic and infrasound sensors, satellite data and web cameras, and regional infrasound and lightning networks.

Small, shallow earthquakes near the summit of Mount Spurr continue; the rate has been fairly low over the past day. Clear satellite and webcam views from the past day showed no unusual activity.

AVO continues to monitor activity at Mount Spurr for signals that would indicate that the volcano is moving closer to an eruption. Based on previous eruptions, changes from current activity in the earthquakes, ground deformation, summit lake, and fumaroles would be expected if magma began to move closer to the surface. Therefore, it is very likely that if an eruption were to occur it would be preceded by additional signals that would allow advance warning.

The volcano is monitored using local seismic, infrasound, web camera, and GNSS stations along with regional infrasound, lightning networks and satellite data.

Daily Update Correction:  The morning Kīlauea Daily Update incorrectly stated that the summit eruption paused at 8:40 a.m. on Friday, January 3. The correct time of the pause onset was at 8:40 p.m., Friday night, January 3, which was given in yesterdayʻs Kīlauea Status Report about the pause event. Otherwise, conditions remain the same as reported in this morningʻs Daily Update.

HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update tomorrow morning unless there are significant changes overnight. HVO remains in close contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency. Please see the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm

The Kīlauea summit livestream video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live

Kīlauea Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code remain at WATCH/ORANGE. All current and recent activity is within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. No changes have been detected in the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

For more information about the meaning of volcano alert levels and aviation color codes, see https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanic-alert-levels-characterize-conditions-us-volcanoes.

The Kīlauea summit livestream video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live

Activity Summary: The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23 paused at approximately 8:40 am on Friday, January 3, as the remaining lava fountain from the south vent shut down rapidly. Glow from the crater floor remained persistent as breakouts and overturning crustal plates exposed molten lava. This glow could persist for days. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

Summit Instrumental Observations: Seismicity at the summit over the last 24 hours remains low with 5 small detected earthquakes. Seismic tremor decreased with the south vent at the summit shutting down and is back to background levels. Summit tiltmeters reversed from deflationary tilt to inflationary tilt around the same time that the lava fountain shut down. After decreasing by almost 25 microradians during the eruption, the summit tiltmeters have increased by almost 1 microradian since 8:40 pm on January 3. The last SO2 emission rate measured was ~30,000 tonnes per day on January 2 during fountaining. A gas plume is rising above the caldera this morning and is being carried to the southwest. Emissions of SO2 remain elevated, but lower than those recorded during eruptive activity, and will be affected by wind conditions.

Summit Eruption Observations: Webcam images show the lava fountain from the south vent shutting down rapidly around 8:40 pm on January 3, which followed the north vent shutting down at 2:16 pm on January 2 after parts of the cone collapsed into the fountain. Glow remained persistent across the crater floor throughout the night as breakouts and overturning crust exposed still molten lava. This glow could persist for days. The area where the automatic laser rangefinder is pointing on the crater floor increased in elevation by nearly 50 ft (15 m) over the eruption, but has gradually fallen by approximately 10 ft (3 m) since the lava fountain shut down at 8:40 pm on January 3. There was no visible flow of lava back into the vent after the pause, and the gradual drop in lava level is more likely due to loss of gas bubbles (summit lavas are 50% or more bubbles) or very slow leaking of lava into the vent beneath the crust.

View the Kīlauea summit eruption livestream: https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live.

December 23, 2024, Kīlauea summit eruption reference map: December 23, 2024—Kīlauea summit eruption reference map | U.S. Geological Survey

Rift Zone Observations: Shallow earthquake counts on the East Rift Zone (ERZ) remain at low levels. Over the last 24 hours, there were 2 earthquakes in the East Rift Zone and 1 earthquake in the Southwest Rift Zone. The ESC tiltmeter in the upper part of the East Rift Zone was deflating in association with the summit eruption, but is now flat with the eruption pausing. Deformation rates remain low in the middle and lower East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone as recorded by GPS instruments and tiltmeters.

Analysis: The current eruption at the summit of Kīlauea is the sixth eruption within the caldera since 2020. These eruptions in the summit region have lasted for about a week to more than a year in duration. This eruption, like most others, started with vigorous lava and volcanic gas emission, but has now paused for the third time. Episodes 2 and 3 of this eruption were preceded by re-inflation of the summit; the rapid change from deflation to inflation at the onset suggests that another eruptive episode may occur in the coming days to weeks if the summit magma chambers repressurize sufficiently. Summit eruptions observed over the past 60 years 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.

HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and is in contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency.

Please see the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.

Hazards: The eruption is occurring within a closed area of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. High levels of volcanic gas—primarily water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2)—are the primary hazard of concern, as this hazard can have far-reaching effects down-wind. As SO2 is continuously released from the summit during the eruption, it will react in the atmosphere to create the visible haze known as vog (volcanic smog) downwind of Kīlauea. Vog information can be found at https://vog.ivhhn.org/.

Hawaiian lava flows generally advance slowly downslope and are currently confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the eastern part of Kīlauea caldera. Additional hazards include Pele's hair and other volcanic fragments from the lava fountains that will fall downwind of the fissure vents and land on the ground within a few hundred meters (yards) of the vent (s), or on the rim of the caldera west of the erupting vents. Strong winds may waft lighter particles to greater distances downwind. Residents and visitors should minimize exposure to these volcanic particles, which can cause skin and eye irritation.

Other significant hazards also remain around Kīlauea caldera from Halemaʻumaʻu crater wall instability, ground cracking, and rockfalls that can be enhanced by earthquakes within the area closed to the public. This underscores the extremely hazardous nature of Kīlauea caldera rim surrounding Halemaʻumaʻu crater, an area that has been closed to the public since late 2007.
 
For discussion of Kīlauea hazards, please see: https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/hazards.

Activity Summary:  The eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater paused at approximately 8:40 p.m. tonight with both fountaining and lava flow effusion ceasing at the same time. Currently there is no lava draining back into the southern vent, which was the only vent actively erupting at the time. Seismic tremor also began dropping at this time and deflation that began December 29th of the summit is continuing for now, but is expected to slow down, stop, or begin inflating in the next few hours.

Lava within Halemaʻumaʻu crater continues to slowly move and crustal overturns are expected in the hours following the pause. The vents may continue to glow and degassing currently remains at high level.  Gas measurements made yesterday were approximately 30,000 tonnes per day.  It is uncertain if lava drainback will occur as the vent had built up an internal structure that may stop lava from flowing back down into the vent.  

HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update tomorrow morning unless there are significant changes overnight.  HVO remains in close contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency. Please see the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm 

The Kīlauea summit livestream video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live  

Kīlauea Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code remain at WATCH/ORANGE. All current and recent activity is within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. No changes have been detected in the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

For more information about the meaning of volcano alert levels and aviation color codes, see https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanic-alert-levels-characterize-conditions-us-volcanoes.  

The Kīlauea summit livestream video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live