Kīlauea summit eruption remains paused

The eruption that began early Monday morning along the southwest side of Halemaʻumaʻu crater and the downdropped block inside Kaluapele, the summit caldera, at Kīlauea volcano remains paused.

Vigorous lava fountains and seismic tremor abruptly diminished at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, with only weak bubbling and drainback present afterward.

“Inflation of the summit following the shutdown indicates that a resumption in activity is possible in the coming days, but not certain,” said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in its daily Kīlauea update just after 9:30 a.m. today.

The eruption is confined to the summit within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Kīlauea’s volcano alert level remains at watch and its aviation color code at orange.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists in the field Wednesday morning observed residual, low level spattering and lava draining back into the vent following the shutdown.

Lava flows were spreading across the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater before the pause, but stagnated once vent activity shut down. Drainback activity ceased at about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Webcam images this morning showed that major effusion is still paused, with only very tiny spattering at one vent that produced a very small lava flow around the vent.

Seismicity at the summit over the last 24 hours has been low with just 3 small earthquakes.

Sulfur dioxide emissions remain elevated, with a gas plume continuing to rise above the caldera, but outgassing vigor has greatly decreased.

The pause in activity brought dismay for some as they planned their trip to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park today.

“So bummed it stopped. We are heading there today,” commented MsYoungprofessor in the live chat on the livestream of the eruption site.

It also erupted a lot of discussion from citizen scientists chatting up a storm about what the volcano is doing.

“It’s erupting, just not fountaining [right now],” wrote Ethereal Swordsman. “Barely erupting, but yeah, there’s lava flowing out of the right vent [right now].”

A small fresh lava pad was visible in the U.S. Geological Survey’s S2 webcam and the agency’s F1 thermal cam aimed at the Kilauea caldera. Volcanic gases also can still be seen billowing — albeit visibly much less than during more vigorous episodes — from the eruption site while watching the livestream.

It most likely just takes time for the fountains to build up again, added S Soltau (The Star Struck Rambler), to which Ethereal Swordsman replied it does, but it’s going slower this time than during the second phase.

“Though, that’s to be expected,” the YouTube user said, adding there’s likely been an increase in internal magma volume, meaning the volcano has more volume to bring up to pressure.

Fred C. Williams said this inflation event isn’t as strong as the previous two, and lava drained faster after the second phase paused than it’s erupting now.

Ethereal Swordsman replied that it will take a while to build back up to any meaningful power, adding the volcano would inflate faster if it was not erupting, but also if the internal volume of the magma resevoir was smaller.

The rate of magma flowing into the system is probably still roughly the same.

“Or this eruption might be ending,” conjectured Fred C. Williams.

“It might be ending,” Ethereal Swordsman replied. “It might just be taking more time.”

This is the sixth eruption at the summit of Kīlauea within the caldera since 2020.

Eruptions in the summit region have lasted about a week to more than a year in duration.

“Previous summit eruptions have exhibited vigorous activity in the opening days, which then either terminates or decreases significantly to a stable, lower level of eruptive activity,” the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s daily update said.

High levels of volcanic gas — primarily water vapor, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide — are the primary hazard of concern, as gases can have far-reaching effects downwind.

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, or volcanic smog, downwind of Kīlauea.

A quick look at the Hawai‘i Department of Health SO2 Index at about noon today showed sulfur dioxide levels around the island are mostly good, with areas around Ocean View, Kahalu‘u-Keauhou, Hōlualoa, Waikōloa and Kuaiwi Farm experiencing moderate levels.

For discussion of Kīlauea hazards, click here.

No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift or Southwest Rift Zones. 

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and is in contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and Hawai‘i County Civil Defense. 

See the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information.

News reporter Nathan Christophel contributed to this story.