Newest Volcano Notice Including Kilauea

Activity Summary:  The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23, continues this morning.  Over the past day, vents in the southwest portion of the caldera have continued producing a fan of lava flows covering the southwest portion of the crater floor, with sustained lava fountaining. Eruptive activity has been confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the downdropped block within the caldera. 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 has been low with one small detected earthquake. Seismic tremor remains has increased gradually over the past few days with the increase in fountaining. Summit tiltmeters recorded deflationary tilt over the past day. SO2 emissions remain elevated, with a gas plume rising above the caldera this morning and carried to the southwest. 

Summit Eruption Observations:  Webcam images indicate that the eruption within Kaluapele (the summit caldera) continues this morning from vents on the southwest side of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Effusion of lava over the past day has produced an enlarging fan of flows that cover the southwest portion of the crater, and have been advancing towards the central part of the crater floor. Yesterday morning, HVO geologists on the crater rim observed fountains reaching about 40 m (130 ft) high.  This morning, HVO geologists in the field report fountain heights of around 30 m (100 ft).      

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 was one earthquake in the lower ERZ. The ESC tiltmeter on the upper part of the ERZ shows deformation associated with the recent eruption. Deformation rates remain low in the middle and lower ERZ and SWRZ 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 paused twice and today shows moderate levels of activity.  Current fountaining intensity has been associated with deflation of the summit magma reservoir, which in earlier episodes led to pauses in eruptive activity; it is uncertain if these fountaining levels will be sustained. Previous summit eruptions 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.