USGS Volcano Notice - DOI-USGS-HVO-2024-12-27T18:25:31+00:00

Activity Summary:  The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23, continues at a very low level this morning.  Following a pause in lava fountaining on Wednesday, December 25, very weak effusion of lava began yesterday, December 26, around 8 a.m., producing very small flows near the vent. 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 just 2 small earthquakes. Seismic tremor remains low due to the lack of significant lava fountaining. Summit tiltmeters have recorded gradual inflationary tilt over the past day. SO2 emissions remain elevated, with a gas plume rising above the caldera this morning, but outgassing vigor is greatly reduced compared to the periods of lava fountaining in previous days. 

Summit Eruption Observations:  Webcam images indicate that the eruption within Kaluapele (the summit caldera) resumed gradually yesterday morning around 8 a.m. from vents on the southwest side of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Very weak effusion of lava over the past day has produced small flows that remain close to the vent in the southwest portion of the crater. HVO geologists in the field this morning report sluggish oozing of lava from the active vent and no significant spattering. They also report numerous rockfalls from the crater walls.    

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 small earthquake recorded 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 very weak levels of activity.  The eruption of small, degassed lava flows preceded high fountaining in Episode 2 by 3-4 hours. However, the current low level eruptive activity has gone on for over a day and it is uncertain if it will be followed by fountaining. 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.