Hawai'i Volcano Blog

Latest eruptive activity of the ongoing episodic eruption of the Big Island volcano began at just after 8 p.m. with sustained molten rock geysers already at 500 feet high from the north vent and rapidly increasing in height.

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

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported that the shaker struck at 8:28 p.m. Thursday 1 mile south-southwest of the Kaʻū community at a depth of 18 miles.

The latest eruptive activity kicked off at 12:53 a.m. Oct. 1 from the north vent in the southwest portion of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, with molten rock fountaining from the south vent as well within the next several hours.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory technicians navigate rugged volcanic terrains and formidable challenges to ensure accurate volcanic activity data.

Lava fountains reached up to 700–800 feet during the early hours of the eruption, making these the highest fountains since episode 28 in July.

American Samoa is comprised of the easternmost islands of a volcanic island chain formed by the Samoan hot spot in the South Pacific Ocean, with its small islands the tops of volcanoes and an active volcanic seamount nearby.

Overnight, the magma column within Halema‘uma‘u has been rising and falling in the vent in cycles (gas pistoning), which has been common in the lead-up to lava fountaining episodes.

Thomas Lee, a newly appointed University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo geology professor, returns home to the Big Island and is eager to collaborate with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory amidst the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruptions.

Dick Fiske, who died on June 18 as he neared his 93rd birthday, was one of the most original thinkers ever at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The short-lived fountain episode produced over 12.5 million cubic yards of lava in just 13.4 hours.

Recently spotted cracks in the delta demonstrate the instability of solid lava along the coastal edge; the new cracks are alarming and have led people to wonder what they mean.

Inclined lava fountains from north vent within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater inside the Big Island volcano’s caldera ejected molten rock 1,000 feet eastward toward the center of the crater for much of the 12.6 hours the latest eruptive episode.

Lava began fountaining from the north vent within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at 2:04 p.m., with molten rock ejecting about 100 feet high, feeding multiple lava streams by 2:15 p.m. onto the crater floor.

With the 30th episode, came one of the most significant changes since the eruption started—a new fissure in the caldera wall.

Some of the Big Island’s past explosive eruptions happened when magma erupted through groundwater or lake in a summit crater. Read this week’s ‘Volcano Watch’ to learn more now.

On Aug. 6, lava fountains reached up to 165 ft., and erupted lava covered 80% of the crater floor during Kīlaueaʻs episode 30 eruption.

A team led by U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist and oceanographer Ashton Flinders with Hawaiian Volcano Observatory discovered the underwater landslide that spans more than 10 miles across and could have played a role in the 1957 tsunami that struck Hawaiʻi and elsewhere in the Pacific region.

Mauna Loa shows signs of minor inflation beneath its summit as it gradually recovers from the 2022 eruption, with seismicity rates rising by 34% this month

Lava fountains reached as high as 300 feet at times during the most recent eruptive event of the ongoing episodic summit eruption within the Big Island’s Kīlauea volcano. Activity ceased abruptly at 12:55 p.m. Aug. 6.