‘Kāholo’: Kīlauea definitely moved fast during Episode 6 of summit eruption

“Kāholo: to move or proceed fast,” wrote Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park in a 1:31 p.m. post Jan. 25 on Facebook. “That was a fast eruption!”

People across social media and in chat on the livestream of the summit agreed as the sixth and latest eruptive episode of the ongoing eruption inside the Kīlauea caldera ended early the afternoon of Jan. 25, just a little more than 13 hours after it began.

It was the shortest episode yet of the now nearly 5-week-old eruption that started the week of Christmas 2024.

Could we be looking at a faster paced period of eruptive activity-pause events? Or possibly the volcano settling into a more longterm eruptive phase?

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory didn’t touch on either of those questions in its status report at about 1:30 p.m. Jan. 25, but it did note that Episode 6 began after the summit recovered only 3 microradians of tilt, or inlation, which was the amount it lost during Episode 5.

“Only 3 microradians of deflationary tilt were recorded during Episode 6 as well, so it is likely that another episode could start within 1 [to] 2 days if inflation rates are similar to prior pauses,” said the observatory’s status report.

That marks a significant change from the 3 to 5 days observatory scientists had been giving the volcano to recharge between eruptive episodes based on previously observed inflation-deflation patterns during this eruption.

The tiltmeter at Uēkahuna bluff started recording the start of inflationary tilt at 1 p.m.

Fountain-fed lava flows stopped erupting from the north vent in the southwest portion of Halema‘uma‘u Crater at 12:36 p.m., signaling the onset of a sixth pause in the volcano’s sixth summit eruption since 2020.

Some still couldn’t believe almost 3 hours later that Episode 6 was already finished.

“Wow,” wrote imann6355 in the livestream chat at about 3:16 p.m. “Is this episode over already?”

“Yes it is lol,” replied Aria_Kinsley. “Waiting for 7 now.”

Marked by episodic lava fountaining, this eruption is different from the others at the summit during the past 5 years.

Each episode since the eruption’s start Dec. 23, 2024, has now lasted between about just more than 13 hours and 8 days. They have been separated by pauses of less than 24 hours to 12 days.

Lava fountains reached heights of up to 150 feet during the first few hours of this episode after erupting at 11:28 p.m. Jan. 24, but gradually decreased in height throughout the morning. Lava flows had covered nearly half the floor of Halema‘uma‘u by the time the eruption paused.

Seismic tremor started dropping along with a stop in deflation about 30 minutes prior to the pause.

No changes have been detected in seismicity and deformation in either the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone of the volcano. Both remain at very low levels.

Kīlauea’s volcano alert level remains at watch and its aviation color code at orange. All activity is confined to the summit caldera within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update the morning of Jan. 26 unless there are significant changes to the volcano’s status before then.

The observatory also remains in close contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and Hawai‘i County Civil Defense.

Visit the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information.

Light winds were blowing at less than 10 mph out of the north-northeast earlier in the afternoon, sending the plume of volcanic gas emanating from Kīlauea to the south into the Ka‘ū Desert.

Winds were not conducive the morning of Jan. 25 for measuring the amount of sulfur dioxide in the plume, but in prior episodes it dropped to about 1,000 tonnes a day during pauses.

Vog, which is volcanic smog caused by the reaction of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere as it is continuously released from the volcano, and Pele’s hair, or strands of volcanic glass often produced by lava fountaining, continue to be primary hazard concerns.

Both are carried by the wind and can affect the national park and nearby communities. Vog, especially, often has far-reaching effects around the Big Island and throughout the state depending on wind patterns and levels of volcanic gas emissions.

With no fountains or lava flows to watch on the livestream for the time being, those chatting started to wonder what is to come for the eruption.

Karen settles asked if anyone thought there could be a chance another episode where two vents see eruptive activity again. Carl fowler questioned if there would be glow emanating from the summit caldera again tonight.

“Might get a longer and stronger fountain because next eruption will not take 4 hour to break thru a rockslide,” wrote Fred C. Williams. “All the rocks on cliff above North vent are gone. The loose rocks anyway.”

He did remind himself and the other chatters, however, that as eruptions continue, they do tend to erupt less and less molten rock. It’s also too early to tell if that’s what is happening.

Others were simply enjoying the opportunity to watch the Earth at work.

“It’s amazing to see how the landscape keeps changing after each eruption!!” exclaimed Uma Vishwanath.