Onset of 55th eruptive episode at Kīlauea is still unknown, as 5 new vents have now opened in the crater

Five new vents have now opened on and near the northwest wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at Kīlauea and produced small lava flows, according to a Wednesday update from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Kīlauea’s 55th episodic eruption within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park still has not officially begun; however, spattering continues from the north vent, with periodic bursts from south and west vents. Summit inflation is stalled, but tremor is increasing.

The summit region continues to be highly pressurized, but it is not possible to forecast what might happen next, according to the report. The two most likely possibilities are the new vents erupting continuously or the new vents shutting down and returning all activity to the established vents.

Lava erupted from these northwest fissures, beginning with Vent 1 at 8:36 p.m. on Sept. 14.

The second vent opened up about 100 feet up the crater wall just to the south of the initial vent at 8:46 p.m. Sept. 14, producing tiny flows that quickly stagnated.

The third vent opened up about 200 feet higher in the middle of the tephra-covered slope south of vent 1 and immediately fed a lava flow that reached the crater floor. The vent 3 flow appears to have stagnated quickly and was covered by vent 1 flows.

The fourth vent opened at 8:52 a.m. on the following morning, Sept. 15. It immediately began feeding what became the largest flow during the day of Sept. 15 though the vent 1 flow remained active.

The fifth vent opened up at 8:58 p.m. south of the end of the vent 3 fissure on Sept. 15. No lava flows emerged from this vent, but successive bursts accompanied by flames and spatter occurred through the night until about 4 a.m. on Sept. 16.

These small explosive bursts excavated a small crater in the hillside overnight.

Vent 2 reactivated at 12:30 a.m. this morning with a small dome fountain at the vent site feeding a small lava falls onto the crater floor. This flow quickly covered the vent 1 flows, but both appear to be active this morning as well as the vent 4 flows.

No precursory lava flows have erupted from the main vent complex since Sept. 12, and no significant activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

This precursory activity for lava fountaining episode 55 of Kīlauea within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park has continued for about nine days, which is now the longest period of precursory activity since high fountains began after episode 4, and has included 104 overflows.

Kīlauea has been erupting episodically since Dec. 23, 2024, from two vents (north and south) in Halema‘uma‘u. Lava fountaining episodes, which generally last for less than 12 hours, are separated by pauses of two or more weeks.

See the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.