Season 1 of ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption a wrap with Episode 12 finale
That’s a wrap, folks.
If the past 2 months and about 10 days of the eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater inside Kaluapele, the summit caldera of Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island, were Season 1 of an average TV series or anime, it would now be finished with the Episode 12 finale coming to a close.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that the most recent eruptive activity at the north and south vents in the crater began with sporadic, sluggish, intermittent lava flows at 7:30 a.m. March 4 and increased to continuous flows by 12:45 p.m. Then, just a little more than an hour later at 2 p.m., the volcano started putting on the show everybody wanted.
Lava fountains once again shot molten rock high into the air, with the dance continuing overnight, much to the delight of all those were were able to see the spectacle in person or watch it on the summit livestream.
Just like the best season finale, however, the exciting, roaring eruptive event ended all too soon at 10:37 a.m. March 5, just less than 22 hours after the continuous activity began.
At the same time, however, summit tilt rapidly changed from deflation — after summit tiltmeters recorded about 11 microradians of deflation during Episode 12 — to inflation and decrease in seismic tremor intensity, perhaps a teaser for a new season to come.
Fountains once again reached heights of 600 feet, which were sustained until the north vent quit erupting at 8:26 p.m. March 4.
Sustained fountains from the south vent then saw heights of 200 to 400 feet throughout the night before decreasing the morning of March 5.
Fountaining increased at about 8 a.m. March 5 from the south vent, and the north vent briefly resumed fountaining and erupting lava flows from 8:42 to 9:11 a.m. before both vents quit erupting after 10:30 a.m.
Lava flows from Episode 12 covered more than two-thirds of the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater floor within the southern part of the Kīlauea caldera, which is located in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
Hazards continue to include volcanic gas emissions, especially sulfur dioxide that will react in the atmosphere to create vog, or volcanic smog, downwind from the summit, and Pele’s hair, windblown volcanic glass, that can impact the national park and nearby communities.
Sulfur dioxide emission rates were averaging about 35,000 tonnes per day during the period of high fountaining March 4, but were down to about 20,000 tonnes per day the morning of March 5.
Emission rates during the pause period are estimated to be about 1,000 tones per day, similar to those measured during other pauses in this ongoing eruption, which started Dec. 23, 2024.
Each episide has lasted from as few as a little less than 13 hours to jsut more than 8 days and separated by pauses of less than 24 hours to up to 12 days.
No changes have been detected in the volcano’es East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.
Kīlauea’s Volcano Alert Level and Aviation Color Code remain at Watch and Orange, respectively.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update the morning of March 6 unless there are significant changes before then.
Animation of images from throughout a 24-hour period of the summit eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater of Kīlauea. The camera is positioned on the south rim of the crater and the view is to the west (U.S. Geological Survey S2cam)- Screenshot from animation of webcam images from a 24-hour period while Episode 12 of the within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater of Kīlauea. This image would have been captured by the U.S. Geological Survey S2cam later Tuesday afternoon, March 4.
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