Update: Episode 6 of Kīlauea summit eruption done just 13 hours after it started

Update at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 25: Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that lava fountains and flows of Kīlauea volcano’s Episode 6 stopped at 12:36 p.m. Jan. 25, just more than 13 hours after it started the night before. Tremor began to decline and deflation of the summit ended about 30 minutes earlier, at about noon.

The summit livestream showed only a Halemaʻumaʻu Crater shrouded in volcanic gas and steam at 1:36 p.m., with one live chatter asking about the lava fountain that ended an hour before: “When are they going to turn it back on?”

Further updates will be provided as more information is made available.

Original story from 11:48 a.m. Jan. 25: Lava fountains were reaching heights of 50 to 100 feet this morning and feeding flows erupting onto the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater within Kaluapele, the summit caldera, after eruptive activity returned to Kīlauea late the night of Jan. 24.

However, a quick view of the livestream from the summit showed lava still fountaining, but not nearly as high and almost gone at times, and some in the chat already saying this episode, like the one before it, won’t last long.

This is now the sixth eruptive episode of the Big Island volcano’s most recent summit eruption that began Dec. 23, 2024.

Volcanic gas emissions remain elevated.

A sulfur dioxide emission rate of about 10,000 tonnes per day was measured Jan. 22 at the start of Episode 5. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says emission rates at the start of this episode were likely similar.

Light winds are blowing the gas plume to the southwest, away from the summit and communities near Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Strands of volcanic glass known as Pele’s hair that formed during recent eruptive episodes also have been found on surfaces throughout the summit area of the national park and surrounding communities.

This summit eruption — which is now nearly 5 weeks old — is marked by episodic lava fountaining, which has not been seen during any of the other five Halemaʻumaʻu eruptions since 2020.

Fountains and lava flows have erupted from two vents in the southwest portion of the crater during each episode of activity that Hawaiian Volcano Observatory refers to as the north and south vents.

The previous five fountaining episodes lasted from a few hours to more than a week, and each was accompanied by strong deflation of the summit area.

Pauses in eruptive activity have been signaled by a nearly immediate change from deflation to inflation as the magma chamber recharges and repressurizes.

Episode 6 of the ongoing summit eruption began at 11:28 p.m. Jan. 24, when fountain-fed lava flows started erupting onto the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater floor.

Fountains initially fed only the main channel and flow from the north vent, but by midnight a second channel and flow formed as fountaining increased and reached maximum heights of more than 150 feet before beginning to decrease by 2 a.m. Jan. 25.

The lava flow in the second channel stopped by 3:30 a.m. and fountains had dropped to between 50 and 100 feet high as reported in the volcano observatory’s daily update at 9:12 a.m. Jan. 25.

As of 11:20 a.m., lava was fountaining from the north vent as seen in the livestream, but at much shorter heights.

“Oooof,” wrote Aria_Kinsley in the live chat. “Steep deflation happening.”

“It is about time for this episode to pause,” speculated Chris Porter.

The Uēkahuna tiltmeter switched from inflation to deflation at about 11:25 p.m. Jan. 24, just before lava flows began erupting onto the crater floor, and has recorded about 2.5 microradians of deflation since.

Seismic tremor began increasing at the same time and remains elevated. Two earthquakes with magnitudes less than 1 were recorded between the mornings of Jan. 24-25.

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

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 Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information.

News reporter Nathan Christophel contributed to this story.