Hawai'i Volcano Blog

Most recent eruptive episode of the ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater within Kaluapele, the summit caldera of the Big Island volcano, ended at 3:29 p.m. Friday, 10 hours and 16 minutes after another awesome display of high fountaining began.

Dive beneath the solidified crust on the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater floor in this week’s edition of “Volcano Watch” to explore the complicated mix of molten material below.

Episode 21 of the ongoing episodic eruption of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at Kaluapele, the Big Island volcano’s summit caldera, ended at 8:34 p.m. Sunday, on Mother’s Day 2025.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory remains steadfast and vigilant as lava fountaining episodes continue at the summit of the Big Island’s Kīlauea volcano, maintaining its monitoring and livestreaming of the volcano to document the eruption’s evolution, inform hazard assessments and apprise the public of ongoing volcanic activity.

Latest episode of sustained geisers of molten rock in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at the Big Island volcano’s summit was shortest since eruption began Dec. 23, 2024.

The earthquake was at a depth of 19 miles below the sea and had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update tomorrow morning unless there are significant changes before then

Health officials encourage the public to keep a close eye on Hawaiʻi air quality data as volcanic gas emissions remain elevated. Air quality can change quickly, depending on the amount of gas being released from the Big Island volcano, wind direction and other weather conditions.

Geophysical instruments recorded many major, and even subtle, details the night of the 2022 Mauna Loa eruption onset. In this week’s “Volcano Watch,” explore some of these monitoring data observations that offer clues as to what was happening beneath the surface.

Lava jettisoned to heights of more than 650 feet at times during the 10 hours of Episode 18 high fountaining before the most recent phase of the Big Island volcano’s summit eruption ended the afternoon of April 22.

The beach at Pohoiki, near the easternmost point on the the Big Island in the Puna District, grew rapidly in the year following the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea and has continued to evolve since.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports Episode 18 of ongoing summit eruption of the Big Island volcano began at 10:01 p.m. April 16 and was feeding a lava flow that extended down the vent’s spillway and a short distance onto the crater floor.

National Volcano Information Service will be an indispensable component of National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System, integrating cutting-edge information technology solutions to ensure efficient monitoring, accurate data interpretation and effective communication of volcanic hazards.

Facility within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park open to use before visitors head out into the park, which is especially nice now that visitor center restrooms are zipped up for renovations.

Work on the Hawaiian Volcano Observatoryʻs new permanent home and a field station continue despite a recent scare, when its temporary home in Hilo was on the original list of federal buildings “not core to government operations,” according to the Trump Administration.

Kīlauea summit has shown little net change in pressurization since the eruption began Dec. 23, 2024, indicating the summit has been in some level of equilibrium. As long as that equilibrium is maintained, the episodic eruption at the summit is likely to continue.

When magma moves into the rift zone of a Hawaiian volcano, there is understandably a lot of excitement and apprehension. How far will the magma go? Will it erupt? But even long after the activity stops — regardless of whether it erupts — the subsurface magma continues to have a noticeable impact on the landscape.

It took about 10 hours or so, but the vents inside Halemaʻumaʻu Crater within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park once again did not disappoint, but officials warn there are some hazards to watch out for accompanying the roaring geysers of molten rock.

There seems to be enough evidence of some sort of collapse happening, which remains the only such event in the volcano’s documented history, simultaneously with a dramatic eruption that caused Hawai’i’s largest ever recorded earthquake, a magnitude-7.9 temblor that resulted in a tsunami and landslide in Ka’u that killed more than 100 people and lava flows that inundated 9 square miles.

The newest eruptive phase of the ongoing eruption inside Halemaʻumaʻu Crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park began just before 9:30 a.m. today (March 19), but the signature tall lava fountains the the active phases have become known for are expected later this afternoon.