Well, at least this eruption of Kīlauea was longer than the last one

The twins, as at least one person has come to call the two vents in the southwest portion of Halema‘uma‘u Crater in the summit caldera of Kīlauea, continued to play earlier during the morning of Jan. 28, but by about 11 a.m., images from the livestream at the summit showed they were already called home again.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported at 11:41 a.m. that Episode 7 of the Big Island volcano’s ongoing eruption abruptly stopped at 10:47 a.m.

Fountains from the south vent stopped at 10:43 a.m. followed by shutdown of the north vent.

Episode 7 lasted just more than 16 hours.

We might not have to wait long until at least one of the twins comes back out to dance. The summit tilmeter at Uēkahuna was already recording rising inflation.

Hawaiian Volcano Obervatory reported in its 10:04 a.m. daily update that lava fountains were still reaching average heights of about 130 to 150 feet from the north vent and 100 feet from the south vent.

Vigorous and sustained Episode 7 fountaining of the ongoing eruption within Kaluapele, the volcano’s caldera, was was also feeding lava flows from both vents, which once again had covered a vast portion of the crater flow.

Activity had changed drastically by 11 a.m., however, as there were no longer fountains or lava flows anywhere to be seen, just volcanic gas rising from the vents in place of the once impressive geisers of molten rock that were erupting before.

The only orange you could see came from the ocassional break off of a falling chunk of lava or ooze out from the inside wall of the north vent or cracks in the surface of the lava lake.

Volcanic gas emissions seemed to have increased somewhat by 11:30 a.m.

Scientists estimated Episode 7 would likely last 10 to 20 hours after it began at 6:41 p.m. Jan. 27. That estimate was based on the durations of Episodes 5 and 6 and the deflation-inflation trends each episode exhibited.

However, deflation during Episode 7 was more similar to Episode 4, which lasted 3 days.

Inflationary tilt at the summit recovered the 2.5 microradian tilt lost during Episode 6 and increased another 0.5 microradians just before Episode 7.

Seismic tremor began increasing, and tilt at the Uēkahuna tiltmeter switched from inflation to deflation at about the same time lava flows began erupting onto the crater floor.

Seismic tremor remained elevated at the time of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s daily update, and the Uēkahuna titlmeter had recorded about 7 microradians of deflationary tilt since the beginning of Episode 7.

It showed about 1 microradian already recovered by 12:15 p.m. Jan. 28 after the episode had stopped. Seismic tremor intensity also had decreased.

All eruptive activity is occurring in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

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

Vog and Pele’s hair continue to be primary hazards of concern at this time, both of which can be carried away from the summit by the wind — especially vog, which can have far-reaching effects.

Weather conditions and episode timing prevented accurate measurements of sulfur dioxide emission rates since earlier in the eruption sequence. Sulfur dioxide is what reacts in the atmosphere to create the volcanic haze known as vog.

Based on emissions measured during earlier episodes, sulfur dioxide emission rates are likely to be near 10,000 tonnes or more per day.

Strands of volcanic glass known as Pele’s hair from Episode 7 were reported throughout the summit area of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and surrounding communities.

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.