#Eruption

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.

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.

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

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.

Current fountaining is occurring bursts up to 30-45 feet high from the two most northern vents.

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!

“Inflation of the summit following the shutdown indicates that a resumption in activity is possible in the coming days, but not certain,” said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in its daily Kīlauea update just after 9:30 a.m. today.

Early this morning, Hawaiian Airlines delayed seven interisland departures and canceled two flights while they waited for weather reports from Kilauea’s eruption.

The Big Island is “such a dynamic environment that I think we take for granted because most places on Earth don’t have those dramatic changes,” said Steve Lundblad, geology professor at UH-Hilo.

Borehole tiltmeters have been used by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) since the early 1970s and have since become an essential part of HVO’s volcano monitoring program.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports “all observable and instrumental signs of potential for renewed eruptive activity have declined”; only a couple of intermittent small spots of residual glow could be detected on the flow field Sunday night and weak degassing continues.

Eruption that started Sunday night now paused after covering more than 156 acres of Nāpau Crater and areas to the west.

This eruption signals a significant and fascinating change in activity at Kīlauea.

The middle East Rift Zone eruption significantly increased in volume on the afternoon of Sept. 18.

Now in its fourth phase of vent opening and lava production, the current phase is the eruption’s largest to date. Fountaining remained strong at the new vent site as of just before 10:30 a.m. today as observed on the S2 webcam.

The eruption at Nāpau Crater continues and serious hazards still exist.

The current lava flow at the middle of the eastern rift zone could create hazards for visitors such as cracks and toxic fumes.

But there are still a few ways to see the eruption for yourself, including a new webcam that the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory installed that provides a live view of Nāpau Crater, looking southwest and updated every 15 minutes.