USGS Volcano Notice - DOI-USGS-HVO-2024-06-03T19:34:15+00:00

Activity Summary:  Kīlauea volcano is erupting. A new eruption began at approximately 12:30 a.m. HST on Monday, June 3, about 4 km (2.5 miles) southwest of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. The eruption is currently ongoing but is taking place in a remote location within the national park, is low in eruptive volume, and does not pose an immediate threat to human life or critical infrastructure. 

Eruption Site Observations: Lava is currently erupting from a fissure system extending approximately 1 km (0.6 miles) in length. One fissure is currently active; three additional fissures were active last night but are no longer active this morning. Lava flows are thin and have only traveled a few hundred meters (yards) from the fissures. The total area covered by new lava is currently estimated at a few thousand square meters (yards). Numerous large ground cracks have formed in the vicinity of the eruption. 

This eruption is occurring in the same approximate location as the December 1974 eruption. Fissures from this eruption have the same orientation as fissures from the December 1974 eruption. The December 1974 eruption lasted about 6 hours but was far more voluminous and covered a much larger area. At this time, it is not possible to say how long the current eruption will last. 

Due to the remote location of this eruption, the primary hazards at this time are airborne hazards related to gas emissions and tephra being blown down wind of the eruption.  

Volcanic gases and steam are being emitted from the eruptive fissure system and from nearby ground cracks. Emissions data are being collected and analyzed at the time of this report and results will be included in future updates. 

A map showing the location of past eruptions in this area, and the approximate location of the new fissures is available here: https://www.usgs.gov/maps/june-3-2024-kilauea-southwest-rift-zone-eruption-reference-map. 

Summit and Upper Rift Zone Observations:  Heightened unrest beneath the summit, upper East Rift Zone, and upper Southwest Rift Zone continues although rates of seismicity and ground deformation have decreased since shortly before the eruption began.  

More than 400 earthquakes occurred over the past 24 hours, with most of them occurring between noon yesterday and midnight last night, when rates exceeded 35 earthquakes per hour. The largest earthquakes included a magnitude-4.1 (M4.1) event at 9:12 p.m. and a M4.0 event at 7:07 p.m. last night. Earthquakes were widely felt in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and surrounding communities and triggered many rockfalls. Approximately 50 earthquakes have occurred beneath the summit, upper East Rift Zone, and upper Southwest Rift Zone over the past 8 hours, as rates have decreased to less than 10 earthquakes per hour. Earthquake depths continue to average 1–3 km (0.6–1.9 miles) beneath the surface.  

Tiltmeters recorded significantly increased rates and changes in direction of ground deformation as well as coseismic offsets over the past 24 hours. The Uēkahuna tiltmeter northwest of the summit recorded a total of approximately 14 microradians of deflation over the past day as magma traveled to the southwest toward the area where the eruption eventually occurred. The Uēkahuna tiltmeter northwest of the summit recorded approximately 6 microradians of deflation over the past 8 hours. The Sand Hill tiltmeter southwest of the summit recorded a total of approximately 50 microradians of inflation between 8:00 a.m. yesterday morning and 8:00 p.m. last night as magma moved to the southwest, followed by approximately 35 microradians of deflation between 8:00 p.m. and this morning as magma moved away from the station and erupted onto the surface. The Sand Hill tiltmeter southwest of the summit has recorded approximately 12 microradians of deflation over the past 8 hours.  

An SO2 emission rate of approximately 61 tonnes per day was recorded west of Kaluapele on May 21, prior to the current eruption. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas emission rates are currently elevated in the eruption area; measurements will be reported in future updates. 

Lower Rift Zone Observations:  Rates of seismicity and ground deformation beneath the middle and lower East Rift Zone and lower Southwest Rift Zone are low. Eruptive activity and unrest is restricted to the summit and upper rift zone regions. Measurements from continuous gas monitoring stations downwind of Puʻuʻōʻō in the middle East Rift Zone remain below detection limits for SO2, indicating that SO2 emissions from Puʻuʻōʻō are negligible. 

Analysis:   Magma has been pressurizing the system beneath Halemaʻumaʻu and the south caldera region, activating seismicity in the upper East Rift Zone, and in the caldera south of Halemaʻumaʻu, since April. Renewed seismicity and deformation began to increase rapidly, beginning at approximately 12:00 p.m. HST on June 2, 2024. The style of seismicity and the coupled inflation at Sand Hill and deflation at Uēkahuna Bluff indicated that magma was moving below the surface during the early stages of dike formation.  

Rates of seismicity and deformation increased greatly after 5:00 p.m. on June 2, prompting the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to raise Kīlauea’s alert level/aviation color code from ADVISORY/YELLOW to WATCH/ORANGE as both strong seismicity and increased inflation indicated a dike was being emplaced and magma could reach the surface at anytime. The Sand Hill tiltmeter recorded the onset of rapid deflation at approximately 8:00 p.m. HST and continued until about 9:30 p.m. HST. A drop of nearly 20 microradians was recorded and seismicity decreased during this period. No additional seismicity was identified, and it was likely that magma moved aseismically (without creating earthquakes) into the dike that formed just to the southwest of the current eruption in late January and early February 2024.  

Both seismicity and tilt decreased after this event repressurized the January-February dike system. The increased pressurization presumably allowed the older magma stored near the surface to slowly move upward until the eruption was triggered at approximately 12:30 a.m. on June 3, 2024. Tremor, created by degassing when a dike nears or breaks the surface, began prior to lava reaching the surface, documenting the slow opening of the fissure system.  To date, only a small volume of lava has erupted from the four fissure segments that follow the track of the December 1974 eruption. Due to the presence of stored lava, this eruption could end without producing much lava or it could continue to develop over the coming days and weeks into a bigger event if the new magma is erupted.  

Due to the remote location of this eruption, the primary hazards at this time are airborne hazards related to gas emissions and tephra being blown down wind of the eruption. HVO will continue to closely monitor for changes, but does not anticipate any threat to communities or infrastructure due to the location of the vents. 

Accordingly, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has lowered the Volcano Alert Level for ground-based hazards from WARNING to WATCH and the Aviation Color Code from RED to ORANGE. 

Updates: The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) will provide daily updates while Kīlauea volcano is erupting.

HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea. Should volcanic activity change significantly, a Volcanic Activity Notice will be issued.

Hazards are present on Kīlauea and are described below. Residents and visitors should stay informed and follow County of Hawai‘i and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park guidelines.

Hazard Analysis:  Kīlauea eruptive activity is occurring within the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. High level of volcanic gas—primarily water vapor (H₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂)—being emitted is the primary hazard of concern, as this hazard can have far-reaching effects downwind. As SO₂ is released from the summit, it reacts in the atmosphere to create the visible haze known as vog (volcanic smog) that has been observed downwind of Kīlauea. Vog creates the potential for airborne health hazards to residents and visitors, damages agricultural crops and other plants, and affects livestock. For more information on gas hazards at the summit of Kīlauea, please see: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/fs20173017. Vog information can be found at https://vog.ivhhn.org.  

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 the rim surrounding Halemaʻumaʻu crater, an area that has been closed to the public since early 2008.   
 
For discussion of Kīlauea hazards, please see: https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/hazards. 
 
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) continues to closely monitor Kīlauea Volcano. 

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