Minor spattering observed at Kīlauea summit

Kīlauea is once again showing signs of unrest as minor spattering within the northern eruptive vent became visible, Saturday evening, in live stream camera views of the southwest side of Kaluapele, within Halema‘uma‘u crater.

This spattering follows an eruptive event at Kīlauea volcano that began on Dec. 23 but paused on the evening of Jan. 3. Lava remains close to the surface on the southwest side of Kaluapele, the volcano’s summit caldera.

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

The vigor of this spattering varied throughout the night, with a peak phase just before 4 a.m., according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s Sunday morning update of Kīlauea.

“Spatter was likely not thrown any higher than 5–10 yards, remaining within the vent,” the report stated.

At this time, no new lava flows have yet exited the vents.

Intermittent spattering continued this morning at the northern vent, but after sunrise, it was not as clearly discernable in the daytime light. Periods of strong glow from the southern eruptive vent suggest that it may have exhibited similar behavior at times overnight. the report indicated.

Seismicity in the summit region remains low, with only one small earthquake detected in the past 24 hours. Seismic tremor remains near background levels, indicating very little activity at the eruptive vents.

The current eruption at the summit of Kīlauea is the sixth eruption within Kaluapele since 2020. These eruptions in the summit region have lasted from one week to more than a year in duration, according to the report.

“Like most of the other eruptions, this event began with vigorous lava effusion and volcanic gas emissions, but it has paused three times,” the report stated.

Episodes 2 and 3 of this eruption were preceded by re-inflation of the summit; the rapid change from deflationary tilt to inflationary tilt at the time of the pause on Jan. 3 suggests that another eruptive episode may occur in the coming days to weeks if the summit’s magma chambers repressurize sufficiently. The return of low-level spattering last night could be the result of rising lava within the eruptive vents, indicating that the resumption of more energetic activity may be getting closer.

Summit eruptions observed over the past 60 years have exhibited vigorous activity in the opening days which can episodically wax and wane, or drop over time to more sustainable low effusion rates, or slowly diminish and end.

Summit tiltmeters reversed from deflationary tilt to inflationary tilt on Jan. 3 around the same time that the single remaining lava fountain shut down; this inflationary tilt continues but at a relatively low rate. The most recently measured sulfur dioxide emission rate was approximately 500 tonnes per day on Jan. 10.

Though significantly lower than rates measured during more energetic eruptive activity, this value still represents above-background SO2 emissions, and the resulting hazard will be affected by wind conditions.

View the Kīlauea summit eruption livestream at https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live.

The eruption has been 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 downwind.

As SO2 is continuously released from the summit during an 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/.

Additional hazards include Pele’s hair and other volcanic fragments from lava fountains that can fall on the ground within a few hundred yards of the eruptive vent(s), or on the western caldera rim downwind of the vent(s). Strong winds may waft lighter particles to greater distances downwind, and wind directions are variable. 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’s caldera rim surrounding Halemaʻumaʻu crater, an area that has been closed to the public since late 2007.

For discussion of Kīlauea hazards, see: https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/hazards.