Volcano Updates for social media from the U.S.G.S. Volcano Hazards Program https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcano-updates U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program Tue, 28 Apr 2026 20:00:04 +0000 Apr 23, 2026 21:24 - Activity Summary: Episode 45 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 10:01 a.m. HST on April 23, 2026, after 8.5 hours of continuous lava fountaining. The eruption is currently paused.No significant tephra fallout was reported at visitor areas of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park or on county roads. Winds blew the plume to the south at low altitudes and to the southwest at higher altitudes, with minor amounts of ash fall reported in the community of Pāhala located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the southwest of the eruptive vents in ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-23T19:07:34+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-23T21:21:34+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Apr 23, 2026 20:13 - Episode 45 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 10:01 a.m. HST on April 23, 2026, after 8.5 hours of continuous lava fountaining. Due to reduced ground and aviation hazards, the USGS is dropping the Volcano Alert Level from WATCH to ADVISORY and the Aviation Color Code from ORANGE to YELLOW. Additional details on this eruptive episode will be provided in the next official report.All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Tephra fall from volcanic ash clouds is greatest within 3 ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-23T18:43:28+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-23T18:43:28+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Apr 23, 2026 16:35 - Episode 45 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu began at the summit of Kīlauea at approximately 1:34 AM HST on April 23, 2026. Peak fountain heights of at least 700 feet (200 m) were reached at around 3:00 a.m. HST and are currently diminishing. Winds have been light and from the north and northwest throughout the episode, sending tephra downwind to the south and southwest. No significant tephra has been reported on Highway 11 or in the public areas of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-23T15:41:02+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-23T15:41:02+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Apr 23, 2026 12:12 - Episode 45 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu began at the summit of Kīlauea began at 1:34 AM HST on April 23, 2026. Ground-level sensors near the eruptive vents indicate that winds are blowing from the north, which suggests that volcanic gas emissions and volcanic material may be distributed to the south from Halemaʻumaʻu. All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Tephra fall from volcanic ash clouds is greatest within 3 miles (5 km) of the vents, lighter ash and Pele's Hair may stay suspended ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-21T22:00:56+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-21T22:00:56+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Apr 22, 2026 01:33 - The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is detecting shallow earthquakes beneath the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, as well as localized ground deformation, in the south caldera region of Kīlauea summit. This activity highlights the dynamic and hazardous nature of the closed area in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, where changes can occur quickly and can result in rapidly escalating hazards. Heed National Park Service guidance and do not enter the closed area, where potentially life-threatening hazards can occur. Be aware that significant hazards exist ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-22T01:18:25+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-22T01:18:25+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Apr 21, 2026 07:16 - Precursory low-level activity for episode 45 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea began around 7:46 p.m. HST on April 20, 2026, with several overflows of lava from the north vent. Accordingly, HVO is raising the Alert Level for Kīlauea from ADVISORY to WATCH and the Aviation Color Code from YELLOW to ORANGE. Alert level and aviation color code definitions: https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/alert-level-system. Low-level precursory activity can continue for hours to days before Kīlauea summit lava fountaining begins. The forecast for lava ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-21T06:55:14+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-21T06:55:14+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Apr 13, 2026 23:47 - Seismic activity, sulfur dioxide emissions, and thermal anomalies at Korovin Volcano (located within the Atka Volcanic Complex) have declined over the past couple weeks and are now at background levels. The Aviation Color Code and the Alert Level for the Atka Volcanic Complex are being lowered to GREEN/NORMAL. Small explosive events can occur at Korovin Volcano without significant precursory unrest. Fallout of ash from such events is unlikely to extend beyond the upper flanks of the volcano. https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-04-13T20:27:02+00:00 DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-04-13T20:27:02+00:00 52.3309 -174.139 NORMAL GREEN Apr 12, 2026 17:20 - The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is experiencing a partial monitoring network outage that started around 1:45 p.m. HST on Saturday, April 11. Despite this partial outage, the remaining data coming into HVO are sufficient to allow us to detect major changes at Hawaiian volcanoes. The outage is affecting monitoring data transmitted via radio telemetry. Monitoring data transmitted via the Island of Hawai‘i's cellular network are still being collected and relayed to the web as normal. This includes the three Kīlauea summit live-stream cameras, which remain ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-12T15:47:48+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-12T15:47:48+00:00 19.7220 -155.0707 Apr 10, 2026 06:52 - Activity Summary: Episode 44 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 7:41 p.m. HST on April 9, 2026, after 8.5 hours of continuous lava fountaining. The eruption is currently paused.Tephra fell outside of the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park along the north rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) and in adjacent communities. Tephra as large as 10 inches (25 centimeters) was reported in the Volcano Golf Course subdivision, and fine ash and Peleʻs hair was reported as far away as Hilo. Episode 44 Chronology:Episode 44 lava fountaining stopped ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-10T06:25:16+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-10T06:25:16+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Apr 10, 2026 06:02 - Episode 44 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 7:41 p.m. HST on April 9 after 9 hours of continuous lava fountaining. Due to reduced ground and aviation hazards, the USGS is dropping the Volcano Alert Level from WATCH to ADVISORY and the Aviation Color Code from RED to YELLOW. Additional details on this eruptive episode will be provided in the next official report.All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Tephra fall from volcanic ash clouds is greatest within 3 miles (5 km) of the ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-10T05:11:40+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-10T05:11:40+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Apr 10, 2026 03:31 - Episode 44 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea began at 11:10 a.m. HST on April 9 and continues at the time of this notice. As of 5:00 p.m. HST, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory webcams show that lava fountains are now reaching heights less than 150 meters (500 feet), with significantly less tephra fall reported downwind to the north-northeast. With the reduced ground hazard from tephra fall, the USGS is lowering the Volcano Alert Level for Kīlauea from WARNING to WATCH.The National Weather Service reports that the plume from this eruption is ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-10T02:54:01+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-10T02:54:01+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH RED Apr 10, 2026 00:27 - Activity Summary: Episode 44 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 11:10 a.m. HST on April 9 and continues at this time. Peak north vent lava fountain heights of approximately 800 feet (240 meters) were reached around 1:00 p.m. HST; fountain heights are presently about 700 feet (215 meters). The south vent has not been active so far during episode 44, though it produced significant precursory overflows that began on Friday, April 3. As of 2:00 p.m. HST, the north vent lava fountain is still reaching about 700 feet in height and it is feeding a plume of ash and ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-09T23:42:10+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-09T23:42:10+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WARNING RED Apr 9, 2026 22:36 - Episode 44 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu began at the summit of Kīlauea began at 11:10 a.m. HST on April 9 and continues as of this notice. The National Weather Service reports that the plume from this eruption is reaching 15,000 feet (4,500 meters) above sea level. North vent lava fountains are currently reaching 190 meters (625 feet) above ground level. Ground-level sensors near the eruptive vents indicate that winds are blowing from the south, which suggests that volcanic gas emissions and volcanic material may be distributed to the north and north-northeast ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-09T19:07:44+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-09T19:07:44+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WARNING RED Apr 9, 2026 21:22 - Episode 44 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea began at 11:10 a.m. HST on April 9. Ground-level sensors near the eruptive vents indicate that winds are blowing from the south, which suggests that volcanic gas emissions and volcanic material may be distributed to the north from Halemaʻumaʻu. All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Tephra fall from volcanic ash clouds is greatest within 3 miles (5 km) of the vents, lighter ash and Pele's Hair may stay suspended for large ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-04T19:05:06+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-04T19:05:06+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Apr 8, 2026 19:40 - Volcano Observatory Notices for Aviation (VONA) and associated Volcano Activity Notices (VAN) are now required to be repeated every day for volcanoes at RED, every week for volcanoes at ORANGE, and every two weeks for volcanoes at YELLOW.The Halemaʻumaʻu eruption of Kīlauea volcano remains paused, and the current forecast for lava fountaining episode 44 is now through April 15. Lava fountaining episode 43 ended at 6:21 p.m. HST on March 10, 2026.All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Tephra fall ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-08T19:08:50+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-08T19:08:50+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Apr 5, 2026 22:58 - On Sunday, April 5, 11:41 a.m. HST, a magnitude-3.9 earthquake occurred 2 mi (4 km) east-northeast of Pāhala on the Island of Hawaiʻi at a depth of 2 mi (2 km) below sea level. The earthquake had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes.This earthquake is likley related to the seismic swarm under the Pāhala area, which has been going on since 2019. Earthquakes in this region have been observed at least as far back as the 1960s. See https://www.usgs.gov/news/volcano-watch-why-do-so-many-deep-earthquakes-happen-around-pahala for more information. The ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-05T22:49:26+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-05T22:49:26+00:00 19.7220 -155.0707 Apr 3, 2026 03:49 - The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) uses the USGS Volcano Alert Level and Aviation Color Code system to communicate about volcanic activity and associated ground and airborne hazards at Kīlauea.Starting after the next episode (episode 44, forecast for April 6–14), HVO will change how it applies Kīlauea’s Alert Level and Aviation Color Code. These updates will more clearly distinguish hazards during eruptive pauses and eruptive episodes. Pauses during the eruption have lengthened from a few days at the beginning of the eruption to more than three weeks at ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-03T03:32:24+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-03T03:32:30+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Apr 1, 2026 20:30 - Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) and associated Volcano Activity Notices (VAN) are now required to be repeated every day for volcanoes at RED, every week for volcanoes at ORANGE, and every two weeks for volcanoes at YELLOW.The Halemaʻumaʻu eruption of Kīlauea volcano is currently paused, current forecast for episode 44 fountaining onset is April 6–14. Episode 43 fountaining ended at 6:21 p.m. HST on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.All eruptive vents and lava flows are confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Tephra fall from ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-01T20:15:04+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-04-01T20:15:04+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Mar 28, 2026 00:09 - On Thursday, March 26 between 2:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. HST, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory detected a swarm of about 28 tectonic earthquakes beneath the northeast side of Mauna Kea, in the Hāmākua region. These earthquakes mainly occurred at depths between 5–10 km (3–6 miles) below the ground surface. The largest of these events were two magnitude 3 earthquakes, and each had a couple of felt reports. During the first few hours of the swarm, the earthquake rates were lower. Following the two magnitude 3 earthquakes, which occurred about one hour apart, the ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-03-27T20:03:46+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-03-27T20:04:10+00:00 19.7220 -155.0707