Kīlauea eruption continues with steady, moderate activity as new ‘hazard’ erupts

Lava visibly fountained and flowed at 8:45 p.m. Sunday in the southwest portion of Halema‘uma‘u Crater of Kīlauea on the Big Island via the livestream of the eruption in Kaluapele, the volcano’s summit caldera.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported Sunday in its daily update that fountaining vigor increased during the past day as the third episode of the eruption persists, but the intensity was still below that seen during the eruption’s first few days last week.

The volcano observatory didn’t offer an estimate about fountain heights, but some citizen scientists on social media made their best guesses in posts Sunday.

“Looking at the live feed of the current eruption, it looks like the lava is fountaining higher than it has been,” wrote Naethan Guette in a post in the Hawai‘i Tracker group on Facebook. “Not sure how high the fountaining is reaching, but it was roughly 250 feet early in the eruption, so I trust it is still reaching heights of 50-75 feet currently.”

Fountaining intensity and lava flow eruption rates are well below those observed in the opening days of the eruption, and it is uncertain if those initial levels of vigor will return.

Previous summit eruptions exhibited vigorous activity in the opening days. Activity, however, can episodically wax and wane, drop with time to sustainable low effusion rates or slowly diminish and end.

Vents also continue to produce an enlarging fan of lava flows covering the southwest area of the crater floor.

Lava fountains, flows and churning molten lake inside the caldera also keep casting Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, where the summit is located, in an almost otherwordly reddish-orange glow.

You’d think all eyes of the hundreds — if not thousands — of visitors coming through the park are likely glued to the volcano right now.

But be aware. A new “hazard” has erupted.

There are other eyes watching and waiting for those awe-inspiring moments with more nefarious reasons in mind.

“Thieves are looking for the right moment to steal your stuff,” said Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park in a recent Facebook post.

A car parked Dec. 27 at Kīlauea Overlook had a window smashed out, with thieves stealing anything they could grab inside.

“If you are coming to the park, leave your valuables behind (or at least hidden in your car). … Don’t let that happen to you,” wrote the park in its post. “Safeguard your stuff.”

The news deflated some of the excitement surrounding the eruption for people commenting on the park’s post. One person even told an eerie story from the same night as the car break-in.

Kim Lubbers was at the park and passed by a couple of people while walking at the beginning of the trail near the parking area of the Keanakāko‘i Overlook, “both wearing Michael Myers Halloween-type masks,” referencing the main killer character from the “Halloween” movie franchise.

“Definitely felt ‘off’!” wrote Lubbers.

Tema Gardener always thought of the national park as one of the last “safe from thieves” places on the island, saying it’s sad that these incidents are happening.

Cynthia Weiss agreed, especially since it’s happening at a sacred place of aloha under the watch of Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele.

“Sacred site, folks — have some respect,” commented Debora Ghoreyeb on a different post in the Hawai‘i Tracker group. “Taking advantage — not cool.”

Teresa Via Fuata “sighed.”

“The wolf is always at the door,” she commented on the post in Hawai‘i Tracker by Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park public affairs specialist Jessica Ferracane. “Please be safe and take care.”

While the eruption is confined to Halema‘uma‘u and the downdropped block in the caldera, other hazards also exist, primarily high levels of volcanic gas — mostly water vapor, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide — which can have far-reaching effects downwind of the eruption.

Sulfur dioxide reacts with the atmosphere as it is continuously released from the summit, creating vog, or volcanic smog, which is carried downwind of Kīlauea.

Emissions remain elevated, with a gas plume rising above the caldera, but outgassing vigor is greatly reduced compared to periods of higher lava fountaining last week.

Seismicity at the summit has been low, and seismic tremor is low but increased gradually during the past 2 days with the increase in fountaining.

Summit tiltmeters recorded gradual inflationary tilt Dec. 28, and switched to deflationary tilt at about midnight Sunday.

This is the sixth eruption within the caldera since 2020. Like most others in the summt region, it started with vigorous lava and volcanic gas emission.

The eruption paused twice last week and has shown moderate, steady activity since Dec. 28 after resuming with sluggish activity Dec. 26, including low fountaining, spattering and short lava flows.

Eruptions in the summit region typically last about a week to more than a year.

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

No unusual activity was noted along the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone. 

There was one earthquake in the middle East Rift and one in the Southwest Rift during the past day, and deformation associated with the Sept. 15-20 eruption at Nāpau Crater in the middle East Rift Zone can be seen on tiltmeter readings, otherwise deformation rates remain low in the 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 Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information.