Kīlauea remains on break — for now

Kīlauea remains on pause, but the livestream view of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at just before 5:30 p.m. Jan. 19 showed quite a bit of volcanic gas still pumping out of the vents where once impressive lava fountains erupted within the volcano’s summit caldera Kaluapele.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported earlier during the morning in its daily Kīlauea update that lava remained close to the surface of the crater and if the inflationary trend instruments are seeing in the summit region now continues, there could be more fountains on the way as soon as within the next couple of days.

Glow persisted inside the two vents in Halemaʻumaʻu and from the crater floor since the fourth break in eruptive activity began shortly after 10 a.m. Jan. 18 as breakouts and overturning crustal plates expose molten lava.

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

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

The eruption continues to be confined within a closed area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, so high levels of volcanic gas — primarily water vapor, carbon dioxide and especially sulfur dioxide, which will react in the atmosphere to create visible volcanic smog, or vog — remain the primary harzards of concern.

The most recently measured sulfur dioxide emission rate was about 560 tonnes per day on Jan. 14, before the start and finish of the fourth eruptive episode, and could be similar to existing conditions.

However, while significantly lower than rates measured during the first three eruptive episodes, the value still represents above-background sulfur dioxide emissions.

The resulting hazard will be affected by wind conditions, and volcanic gas emissions can have far-reaching effects downwind from the site of an eruption.

Pele’s hair — which is strands of volcanic gas often produced by fountaining lava that can be carried by the wind and sometimes clusters and tangles together on the ground, giving it the appearance of a tumbleweed — formed earlier on during the fourth and most recent eruptive episode.

The glassy-like substance could continue to be remobilized by winds in the national park and nearby communities during the next few days.

Summit tiltmeters began recording inflation at about 9:50 a.m. Jan. 18, soon after fountaining ceased at the north vent. They have been recording steady inflation since.

The prior four eruptive episodes all began after the Uēkahuna tiltmeter at the summit recorded between 6 and 12 microradians of inflationary tilt.

That tiltmeter had recorded about 2.5 microradians of inflation by shortly after 9 a.m. Jan. 19 and was showing the summit region inflating at a rate of 2 microradians per day.

If that relatively high rate of inflation continues and magma remains high in the vents — as indicated by peristent strong glow at night — there is a high probability a fifth fountaining episode could begin sometime between Jan. 21 and Jan. 24.

If the rate of inflation slows, the probable window of time for resumption of activity would be longer.

This is the sixth eruption at the summit of Kīlauea since 2020 within Halema’uma’u Crater. It started during the early morning hours of Dec. 23, 2024.

Recent summit eruptions have typically lasted from 1 week to more than a year.

This eruption is unique in that it’s been marked by episodic fountaining not seen during any of the other recent eruptions. There have been four fountaining episodes, each lasting from a few hours to more than a week.

The onset of fountaining of each eruptive episode was accompanied by strong deflation of the summit region, with pauses or periods of repose between each marked by an immediate change from deflation to inflation as magma recharge repressurized the magma chamber.

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

Visit the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information.