Kīlauea on ‘watch’ following brief eruption on Sunday

Kīlauea volcano erupted briefly last night on the middle East Rift Zone in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

The Volcano Alert Level for ground-based hazards remains at “watch” and the Aviation Color Code remains at orange at this time. Rates of seismicity and ground deformation beneath the summit, lower East Rift Zone, and Southwest Rift Zone remain low. Current activity is restricted to Kīlaueaʻs upper-to-middle East Rift Zone.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the brief eruption occurred near the National Park Nāpau campsite (east of Kānenuiohamo and Makaopuhi Crater and west of Nāpau Crater) on the middle East Rift Zone between 9 and 10 p.m.

Small lava pads erupted from two fissure segments in a couple hundred meters (hundred yards). The lava extended 50 meters from the fissure vents, with the uprift fissure segment being larger than the downrift fissure segment.

Chain of Craters Road is closed as it is located downslope and downwind of the new fissures.

Continued degassing from the fissure system may pose a hazard to humans downwind of the eruption site. The eruption does not currently pose an immediate threat to human life or infrastructure.

The eruption does not appear to have impacted Napau campground but may have partly covered the pulu (Hawaiian tree fern) station nearby. Vegetation in the eruption area was burned and sulfur dioxide continues to de-gas from the vents.

Residents of nearby subdivisions reported smelling volcanic gas and other smells related to this event during the evening of September 15.

Scientists are continuing to closely monitor the middle East Rift Zone and in contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency. Temporary closures have been implemented as a result of this elevated activity; see the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm. 

Numerous eruptions took place in Kīlauea’s middle East Rift Zone during the 1960s–1970s, according to HVO. Most of these eruptions occurred between Hiʻiaka crater and Puʻuʻōʻō and lasted from less than one day to about two weeks, although there were long-lived eruptions at Maunaulu (1969–1971 and 1972–1974) and Puʻuʻōʻō (1983–2018).

A map of past eruptive activity in the upper-to-middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea is available here: https://www.usgs.gov/maps/kilauea-middle-east-rift-zone-reference-map.

For more information about the meaning of volcano alert levels and aviation color codes, see https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanic-alert-levels-characterize-conditions-us-volcanoes.