Hawai'i Volcano Blog

Lava within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater continues to slowly move. Crustal overturns are expected in the hours following the pause. Both vents might continue to glow, and degassing currently remains at a high level.

When magma cools prior to eruption, crystals grow and develop chemical zones that record changes in the environment around them. Scientists study chemical differences in these zones, which can provide information about the magma, including its temperature, composition and more.

If ever there was a week when “variety” best fit the top 10 things happening around the Big Island, this would be it. From an hour of volcano stand-up comedy to the return of the KWXX Hoʻolauleʻa, there definitely is something for everyone. Check em out today!

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the newest eruptive activity in the Big Island volcano’s summit caldera began at about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, with a small lava flow exiting the north vent following low-level continuous lava spattering that started at about 5:40 a.m. from the same vent.

This spattering follows an eruptive event at Kīlauea volcano that began on Dec. 23 but paused on the evening of Jan. 3.

Assuming the vent in the southwest portion of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater remains open, indicated by continued glow and degassing, and inflation rate remains constant, a new eruptive episode could potentially begin sometime by Jan. 13, when ground tilt at Uēkahuna is expected to reach 12 microradians, about double prior post-fountain tilt increases.

The lack of trade winds is keeping the vog lingering over Hawai‘i Island, but that is expected to change by the weekend.

Summit tiltmeters on the Big Island volcano reversed from deflationary tilt to inflationary tilt at about the same time the lava fountain shut down Friday. Rapid change from deflation to inflation at the onset of each of the eruptive episodes suggests another episode could erupt in the coming days to weeks if summit magma chambers repressurize sufficiently.

People around the world greet the New Year with fireworks and other celebrations. Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park visitors got to greet 2025 with displays of lava fountaining from the southwest part of Kaluapele, the summit caldera of Kīlauea volcano.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that lava fountaining and flow activity within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater ceased at about 8:40 p.m. Friday. Lava continues to slowly move, with crustal overturns expected in the hours following the pause in eruptive activity.

Visitors coming to view the 10-day-old eruption inside the volcano’s caldera at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park should expect a daytime traffic change and be aware that air quality could be bad this weekend.

Behind us are the holidays and ahead is a whole new year, full of exciting experiences and opportunities to reinvent ourselves. Let’s make a resolution to try something new during 2025.

The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, Dec. 23, continues this morning. Over the past day, vents in the southwest portion of the caldera have continued producing a fan of lava flows covering the western portion of the crater floor during sustained lava fountaining.

As of this morning, U.S. Geological Survey’s livestream video of the eruption continued to show fountaining.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the earthquake late Sunday night was part of the ongoing swarm of deep seismicity that has been happening beneath the area of the Kaʻū community since 2019. It had no apparent impact on either Kīlauea of Mauna Loa volcanoes.

There are eyes watching and waiting for those awe-inspiring moments with more nefarious reasons in mind. “Thieves are looking for the right moment to steal your stuff,” said Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in a recent Facebook post.

If fountaining continues, it is possible heights will increase as more gas-rich lava erupts. However, it is not possible to estimate how high fountains could get or how long fountaining will last.

The low level eruptive activity has gone on for more than a day, after the eruption resumed Thursday evening. Eruptions in the summit region typically last about a week to more than a year. This eruption began during the early morning of Dec. 23.

This is the Big Island volcano’s third eruption this year, and all three happened in different parts of the mountain — the Southwest Rift Zone, East Rift Zone and now the summit caldera. The last time eruptions happened in all of these areas in the same year was 50 years ago!

Park rangers and officials warn those who do otherwise do so at great risk. In a split second, awe, wonder and amazement can change to fear, catastrophe and tragedy.