USGS Volcano Notice - DOI-USGS-HVO-2025-01-12T16:41:27+00:00

Activity Summary: The summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on December 23 has been paused since the evening of January 3. Beginning yesterday evening, very minor spattering has been visible within the northern eruptive vent, as lava remains close to the surface on the southwest side of Kaluapele, the volcano's summit caldera. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea's East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

Summit Instrumental Observations: Seismicity in the summit region remains low, with only 1 small earthquake (below M2.0) detected in the past 24 hours. Seismic tremor remains near background levels, indicating very little activity at the eruptive vents. Summit tiltmeters reversed from deflationary tilt to inflationary tilt on January 3 around the same time that the single remaining lava fountain shut down; this inflationary tilt continues, but at a relatively low rate. The most recently measured sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emission rate was approximately 500 tonnes per day on Friday, January 10. Though significantly lower than rates measured during more energetic eruptive activity, this value still represents above-background SO₂ emissions, and the resulting hazard will be affected by wind conditions (see Hazards section below).

Summit Eruption Observations: After sunset yesterday evening, very minor spattering within the northern eruptive vent became visible in live stream camera views of the southwest side of Kaluapele, within Halema‘uma‘u crater. The vigor of this spattering varied throughout the night, with a peak phase just before 4:00 a.m. Spatter was likely not thrown any higher than 5–10 yards (meters), remaining within the vent. Intermittent spattering continues this morning at the northern vent, but after sunrise it has not been as clearly discernable in the daytime light. Periods of strong glow from the southern eruptive vent suggest that it may have exhibited similar behavior at times overnight.

These observations provide further evidence for active lava within the eruptive vents just a few yards (meters) below the crater floor, as spotted by a HVO helicopter overflight on Friday, January 10. At this time, no new lava flows have yet exited the vents. The area where HVO's automatic laser rangefinder is pointing on the crater floor—a few hundred yards (meters) northeast of the vents—remains stable, so there is no ongoing emplacement of lava below surface crust on the crater floor.

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

January 2, 2025, Kīlauea summit eruption reference map: January 2, 2025—Kīlauea summit eruption reference map | U.S. Geological Survey.

Rift Zone Observations: Seismicity remains low in both the East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone, with counts of shallow earthquakes at background levels. The ESC tiltmeter in the upper East Rift Zone was tracking deflation in association with the summit eruption, but its tilt trend has flattened during the ongoing pause. Deformation rates remain low in the middle and lower East Rift Zone and in the Southwest Rift Zone, as recorded by GPS instruments and tiltmeters.

Analysis: The current eruption at the summit of Kīlauea is the sixth eruption within Kaluapele since 2020. These eruptions in the summit region have lasted from one week to more than a year in duration. Like most of the other eruptions, this event began with vigorous lava effusion and volcanic gas emissions, but it has paused three times. Episodes 2 and 3 of this eruption were preceded by re-inflation of the summit; the rapid change from deflationary tilt to inflationary tilt at the time of the pause on January 3 suggests that another eruptive episode may occur in the coming days to weeks if the summit's magma chambers repressurize sufficiently. The return of low-level spattering last night could be the result of rising lava within the eruptive vents, indicating that the resumption of more energetic activity may be getting closer.

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 more 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 about eruptive hazards.

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

Hazards: The eruption has been 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 downwind. As SO₂ is continuously released from the summit during an 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 during this eruption flows have been confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater and the southwest side of Kaluapele, Kīlauea's summit caldera. Additional hazards include Pele's hair and other volcanic fragments from lava fountains that can fall on the ground within a few hundred yards (meters) of the eruptive vent(s), or on the western caldera rim downwind of the vent(s). Strong winds may waft lighter particles to greater distances downwind, and wind directions are variable. 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's 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.