Kīlauea showing signs of upcoming eruptive episode

A new eruptive episode at Kīlauea in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is likely to begin sometime between Friday and Oct. 22.

According to the latest report from the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, a nearly continuous strong glow was visible from both the north and south vents within Halema‘uma‘u crater on Wednesday night, indicating that magma within the conduits is close to the surface.

Intermittent spattering in the north vent became visible just after dark last night.

Infrequent spattering also occurred from the south vent after 10 p.m. Seismic tremor changed from continuous to irregular gas pistoning last night, according to the report.

As of this morning, Halemaʻumaʻu continues to be quiet with passive outgassing plumes rising from the north and south vents.

Strands of volcanic glass known as Pele’s hair are present throughout the summit area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and surrounding communities and can be remobilized by wind even after lava fountaining has ceased.

Rates of seismicity and ground deformation remain low in the East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone, with no significant earthquake activity in the past 24 hours outside of the summit. Sulfur dioxide emissions from the East Rift Zone remain below the detection limit.

This will be the 35th eruptive episode since Kīlauea has been spouting lava on and off since December 2024. Episode 34 lava fountaining ended Oct. 1 at 7:03 a.m. after approximately 6 hours of continuous activity.

Eruption resources, including the most recent map and a timeline of eruption episodes since December 23, 2024: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/science/eruption-information

Three Kīlauea summit livestream videos that show eruptive lava fountains are available here: https://www.youtube.com/@usgs/streams
Summit eruption webcams: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/summit-webcams

Learn more about gas pistons in a Volcano Watch article here: https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/news/volcano-watch-so-what-earth-or-least-kilauea-a-gas-piston