Kīlauea summit eruption pauses for third time

Fountaining and lava flows within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater inside the summit caldera of Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island have ceased after more than a week of consistent — and sometimes vigorous — eruptive activity that awed and mesmerized thousands of people visiting Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that activity stopped at about 8:40 p.m. Friday, putting the eruption that started during the early morning of Dec. 23 on pause for a third time.

There is no lava draining back into the southern vent, which was the only vent actively erupting at the same time.

It is uncertain if lava drainback will occur, as the vent had built up an internal structure that could stop lava from flowing back down into the vent.

Seismic tremor also began declining as fountaining and flows ceased, and deflation of the summit that began Dec. 29, 2024, continues for now, but is expected to slow down, stop or begin inflating in the next few hours.

Lava within Halemaʻumaʻu continues to slowly move, with crustal overturns expected in the hours following the pause.

Looking at the livestream of the summit at about 10:20 p.m. showed glowing lava under cracks in the surface of the lava lake inside the crater, which is located within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

The vents might continue to glow and degassing remains at high level. Volcanic gas measurements taken Thursday were about 30,000 tonnes per day.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update Saturday morning unless there are significant changes overnight.

The observatory remains in close contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and Hawai‘i County Civil Defense.

See the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information.

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

No changes have been detected in the volcano’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.