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 Mon, 03 Aug 2026 20:05:12 +0000 Jul 29, 2026 13:19 - Activity Summary:  Episode 52 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began around 7:10 p.m. HST July 28 and ended abruptly at 2:36 a.m. HST on July 29, 2026. The maximum lava fountain height was approximately 500 feet (150 meters) above ground level from the north vent. The south vent never fountained during this episode but did emit flames at the end of the eruption. The maximum plume height was approximately 19,000 (5,800 meters) above mean sea level. Tephra fall was restricted mostly to the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park to the southwest of the ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-29T13:10:51+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-29T13:10:51+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Jul 29, 2026 13:01 - Episode 52 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 2:36 a.m. HST on July 29 after 7.5 hours of continuous lava fountaining. Additional details on this eruptive episode will be provided in the next official report.All eruptive vents and lava flows were confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. A light dusting of fine ash fell along the northern rim of Kaluapele within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Light ash and Pele's Hair may stay suspended for a short time after the eruption endsTimeline of eruptive episodes since ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-29T10:09:27+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-29T10:09:27+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Jul 29, 2026 07:36 - Episode 52 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu began at the summit of Kīlauea began at 7:10 p.m. HST on July 28, 2026 and continues as of this notice. Fountains are close to peak height of about 500 feet (150 meters) at 9:15 p.m. HST. Effusion rate is also peaking at 350 cubic yards per second (270 cubic meters per second). The National Weather Service radar shows the maximum plume height reached 19,000 feet AMSL (above mean sea level) and is currently at about 16,000 feet AMSL. Winds are still below the inversion and the plume is currently rising vertically. ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-29T06:14:51+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-29T06:14:51+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Jul 29, 2026 05:31 - Episode 52 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu began at the summit of Kīlauea began at 7:10 p.m. HST on July 28, 2026 with 100 foot (30 meter) fountains. This followed precursory spattering from both vents that began on the night of July 27. Initial precursory overflows began at 10:22 a.m. HST from the north vent. After 6 precursory flows lasting 10-30 minutes, continuous overflows began from the north vent at 1:56 p.m. HST and continued until they transitioned into the start of episode 52 fountains.Ground-level sensors near the eruptive vents indicate that winds are ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-28T22:59:42+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-28T22:59:42+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Jul 28, 2026 20:48 - Precursory low-level activity for episode 52 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea began around 10:22 a.m. HST on July 28 with an overflow 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. This low-level precursory activity can continue for hours to days before the lava fountaining episode beings. The forecast for episode 52 of lava fountaining ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-28T20:28:00+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-28T20:28:00+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Jul 25, 2026 00:19 - Strong northwesterly winds in the vicinity of Katmai and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes have picked up loose volcanic ash erupted during the 1912 Novarupta-Katmai eruption and are carrying it to the southeast. The National Weather Service has issued a SIGMET for this low-level event and suggests that the maximum cloud height is 6,000 ft (1.8 km) above sea level.This phenomenon is not the result of recent volcanic activity and occurs during times of high winds and dry snow-free conditions in the Katmai area and other young volcanic areas of Alaska. No eruption is in ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-03-06T00:26:58+00:00 DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-03-06T00:26:58+00:00 58.279 -154.9533 NORMAL GREEN Jul 21, 2026 20:08 - A small explosion from Korovin Volcano within the Atka Volcanic complex was detected in seismic and infrasound data on July 16, 2026. Since then, unrest has declined. As a result, the Aviation Color Code and Alert Level are being lowered to GREEN/NORMAL. https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-21T18:52:50+00:00 DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-21T18:52:50+00:00 52.3309 -174.139 NORMAL GREEN Jul 16, 2026 13:03 - A small explosion from Korovin Volcano was detected in seismic and infrasound data at 3:55 am AKDT (11:55 UTC) this morning, July 16, 2026. The Aviation Color Code and Alert Level are being raised to YELLOW/ADVISORY. No emissions were observed in satellite images, but regional clouds would obscure activity below 10,000 feet (3 km) asl. Possible ash clouds generated by such events are expected to be small and dissipate quickly. Fallout of ash, if any, is unlikely to extend much beyond the upper flanks of the volcano. https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-16T12:42:57+00:00 DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-16T12:42:57+00:00 52.3309 -174.139 ADVISORY YELLOW Jul 16, 2026 04:08 - Activity Summary: Episode 51 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began around 8:30 a.m. HST on July 15 and ended abruptly at 4:46 p.m. HST on July 15, 2026.The maximum lava fountain height was approximately 950 feet (290 meters) above ground level from the north vent. The south vent never fountained during this episode but did emit flames and gas jets.The maximum plume height was approximately 18,000 (5,500 meters) above mean sea level.Tephra fall was restricted mostly to the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park to the southwest of the active Halemaʻumaʻu ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-16T03:55:25+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-16T03:55:25+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Jul 16, 2026 03:06 - Episode 51 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 4:46 p.m. HST on July 15 after 8.1 hours of continuous lava fountaining. The eruptive plume was under 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level when fountaining ended. Tephra that was carried high into the air during fountaining may remain suspended in the atmosphere for some time and may continue to fall even after lava fountaining ended. 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 ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-16T01:02:30+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-16T01:02:30+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Jul 16, 2026 00:13 - Signs of unrest at Ahyi Seamount have been observed in recent satellite images over the past few weeks. Small plumes of discolored water were observed drifting less than 0.3 miles (0.5 km) away from the volcano in satellite images on July 1, 7, and 11. Small plumes have been observed intermittently in clear satellite images over the last few months, but recent images show more discrete plume shapes suggesting more vigorous activity. No significant activity has been detected from the direction of Ahyi Seamount in hydroacoustic array data at Wake Island. The plumes are ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-NMI-2026-07-15T19:41:39+00:00 DOI-USGS-NMI-2026-07-15T19:41:39+00:00 20.437 145.03 ADVISORY YELLOW Jul 15, 2026 20:36 - Episode 51 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu began at the summit of Kīlauea began at 8:30 a.m. HST on July 15 and continues as of this notice. Fountain heights are at 950 feet (290 meters) and effusion rates have reached a peak of about 400 cubic yards per second (300 cubic meters per second) at 10:30 a.m. HST July 15. The National Weather Service reports that the plume from this eruption is reaching 18000 feet above sea level. Ground-level sensors near the eruptive vents indicate that light winds are blowing from the northeast direction, which suggests that ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-15T20:15:42+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-15T20:15:42+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Jul 15, 2026 19:07 - Episode 51 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea began at 8:30 a.m. HST on July 15. Lava fountains are currently erupting from the north vent and reaching heights of about 160 ft (50 m) above ground level. Peak fountaining typically occurs 1-2 hours after onset. North vent fountains are feeding large lava flows onto the floor of Halema'uma'u crater. No fountains or flows are erupting from the south vent at this time. Precursory activity is summarized in the Kīlauea Update for Wednesday June 15.Ground-level sensors near the eruptive vents ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-15T01:41:41+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-15T01:41:41+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Jul 15, 2026 01:29 - Precursory low-level activity for episode 51 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea began around 2:51 p.m. HST on July 14 with a lava overflow 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. This low-level precursory activity can continue for hours to days before the lava fountaining episode beings. The forecast for episode 51 of lava ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-15T01:00:23+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-15T01:00:23+00:00 19.421 -155.287 WATCH ORANGE Jul 14, 2026 01:00 - 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 51 fountaining onset is July 14-16. Episode 50 fountaining ended at 5:10 p.m. HST on Saturday, June 27, 2026.All eruptive vents and lava flows have been confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Timeline of ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-14T00:12:27+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-14T00:12:27+00:00 19.421 -155.287 ADVISORY YELLOW Jul 10, 2026 07:30 - HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY INFORMATION STATEMENT On Thursday, July 9, 8:17 p.m. HST, a magnitude-4.5 earthquake occurred 34 mi (54 km) west-southwest of Captain Cook on the Island of Hawaiʻi at a depth of 24 mi (39 km) below sea level. The earthquake had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes. The depth and location of this earthquake indicate it is another lithospheric flexure earthquake related to bending of the ocean crust and upper brittle mantle (the lithosphere) by the weight of the islands. No impact to the ongoing eruption of Kīlauea ... https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-10T06:42:41+00:00 DOI-USGS-HVO-2026-07-10T06:42:41+00:00 19.7220 -155.0707