Kīlauea ‘strikes back’ in fifth eruptive episode but then suddenly retreats

This story was updated at 10:33 p.m. Jan. 23, 2025.

Jeez! What a tease. The volcano struck back in Episode V, but it’s latest march didn’t last long.

The fifth eruptive episode of the summit caldera eruption at Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island is already done, ending early Thursday morning after less than a day of activity.

The livestream of the summit still showed steady volcanic gas emissions and lava moving on the floor of Halema’uma’u Crater near the north vent, where only hours before lava vigorously fountained, during the now and once again paused eruption.

Otherwise, it was a relatively quiet scene just before 8 a.m. Thursday.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists say a sixth eruptive event could start sometime during the next few days if inflationary trends continue like those observed since the eruption began the week of Christmas 2024.

Hazards also remain — some rather significant — despite Kīlauea retreating again.

“Look at that lava moving and shifting,” wrote Support Local Hawaii on Thursday morning in the livestream chat. “Amazing!”

Chatter sean reily wondered if the crater floor was rising or falling, as it appeared there was active cracking, while TheWirewitch commented they wouldn’t be surprised if there was a partial collapse of the crater.

Plus, it seemed as if the lava was draining off somewhere, which told the chatter there “could be a substantial void under the cap” atop the lava lake now filling the crater.

Kīlauea has already erupted more than 6.5 billion gallons of molten rock since this summit eruption began.

No matter what, more than a few people agreed the episodic eruption that started the week of Christmas 2024 still has more to show.

“The lava lake is definitely moving and cracking this morning,” Support Local Hawaii wrote, who said earlier in the chat that the volcano is just getting started. “She’s definitely not done with her eruption yet.”

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported at 7:23 a.m. Thursday that the fifth eruptive episode of the eruption in Kaluapele, the summit caldera of Kīlauea, ended at 4:30 a.m., almost 3 hours earlier.

Lava fountain activity, which continued overnight Wednesday into Thursday from the north vent, reached heights of up to 100 to 130 feet at points during the latest episode. It fed a lava flow that spread over about half of the Halema‘uma‘u Crater floor.

It suddenly stopped, along with lava ceasing to flow from the vent. Seismic tremor also returned to pre-fountaining levels and remains present at low levels.

Strong glow continues to emanate from the north vent. That indicates magma remains close to the surface of Halemaʻumaʻu.

Each of the five eruptive episodes of this eruption began after the Uēkahuna tiltmeter recorded between 6 and 12 microradians of inflation in the summit region.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said earlier Thursday that the tiltmeter had recorded about 0.2 to 0.3 microradians in the 3 hours since the new pause started early Thursday morning.

“If this rapid rate of recovery continues, it is possible for another episode to begin as early as the next 3 [to] 4 days, but more time is needed to accurately estimate a probability window,” said the daily Kīlauea status update.

This eruption is confined within Halema’uma’u at the summit of the volcano within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. What has been unique about this eruption is that it’s marked by episodic fountaining not seen during any other recent recent summit eruption.

There have now been five fountaining episodes, each with differing longevity — from a few hours to more than a week.

Episode five was the shortest so far, starting at just before 3 p.m. Jan. 22 and ending at 4:30 a.m. Jan. 23, coming in at about 13.5 hours.

Episode 3 was the longest period of eruptive activity since the eruption began, starting at 8 a.m. Dec. 26, 2024, and pausing at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 3, for a total of just more than 9 and a half days, or 204.5 hours.

Breaks in activity between episodes were signaled by an immediate change from deflation to inflation of the summit as magma recharge repressurizes the magma chamber.

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

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

Pele’s hair — strands of volcanic glass often produced by fountaining lava — can be carried by wind and sometimes cluster and tangle together on the ground, making it appear like tumbleweed.

It was observed at the Steaming Bluff carpark overnight while lava was fountaining.

Pele’s hair also could be remobilized during the next few days by winds in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and nearby communities.

The other hazard of primary concern is also carried by the wind.

Sulfur dioxide emission rates were most recently measured at the beginning of the fifth eruptive episode Wednesday at about 10,000 tonnes per day.

That’s lower than emission rates during the first three eruptive episodes, and kona winds — those that blow from the south or south-southwest in the opposite direction as typical trade winds — precluded emission rate measurements during episode four.

But it’s still above background sulfur dioxide emission levels.

As sulfur dioxide is continuously released from the summit during an eruption, especially this ongoing eruption at times, it reacts in the atmosphere and creates the visible volcanic haze called vog.

The volcanic smog is a hazard to everyone, especially to those with heart and respiratory issues, pregnant women and children.

Puna Weather Facebook group administrator and citizen meteorologist Harry Durgin says in his Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, forecast that vog is all but a guaranteed fact of life today with dry conditions.

A few widely scattered showers Friday, that hopefully means less vog, but the volcanic haze looks to continue to be an issue through the weekend — depending on what Kilauea decides to do — with only scattered windward showers in the forecast.

Vog has been a persistent issue around the island for the past week and longer depending on the weather and which way the wind is blowing, especially at the end of last week and this past weekend, when winds became flat and light from the south.

Jan. 17 was especially voggy, with the volcanic smog so dense, what should have been a clear, bright, sunny day in Hilo instead was shrouded in a thick, brownish, gross cloud that blotted out the beauty.

“My home in Kaʻū is so bad that as I’m typing this, I can chew and swallow the vog and I have Pele’s hair stuck in my forearms while leaning on my freezer,” wrote Rob Jr. See in a comment on a Jan. 17 post by Tim Wright Hawai‘i in the Hawai‘i Tracker Facebook group.

Jennifer Scheffel said it was bad in ʻĀinaloa, too, that day, where vog usually isn’t an issue. But her head was pounding, and her eyes and nose were burning.

“My eyes and nose burn just looking at it!” exclaimed Pamela Jones replying to another commenter on Wright’s post.

Others across social media talked about coughing, scratchy throat, fatigue and several more complications caused by the vog. Ashley Ferraro replied to Wright that she wondered if something was on fire when she woke up that morning at her home in Kea‘au the volcanic smog was so thick.

“My home looked like a haunted house in the morning!” wrote Ferraro. “Eeeeerrrie.”

Today’s vog level is pretty bad. Stuart Hanakahi said the “dang vog got me” in a Facebook post from just before 9 a.m. Thursday. In fact, it’s treating him so badly, he told a friend in comments on his post that he was shortening his trip to the island and leaving for O‘ahu tonight.

Hawai‘i County Civil Defense on Wednesday night advised the public that because of Kilauea’s volcano alert level being at watch and the persistent vog and Pele’s hair hazards:

• There are increased levels of vog from the volcano that can impact areas downwind of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater. If you are sensitive to vog or experience dizziness, stay indoors or leave the area.
• Pele’s hair is also drifting downwind of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater. Contact with Pele’s hair can cause skin and eye irritation. If you are experiencing symptoms, wear long sleeves and pants and stay indoors.

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.

See the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information.

This is the sixth eruption since 2020 at the summit of Kīlauea within Halemaʻumaʻu, which sits inside the southern part of Kaluapele. Recent summit eruptions have typically lasted from 1 week to more than a year.

It’s been about 4 and a half weeks since this eruption started during the early morning of Dec. 23, 2024.