#Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

The easiest answer to the question of whether lava will flow out of the caldera is — it depends!

The Big Island volcano — perhaps the most active in the world — was a bit of a tease leading up to its most recent fountaining episode yet, which lasted 8.3 hours July 15.

The most recent lava fountaining episode within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater ended abruptly at 4:46 p.m. July 15 after 8.1 hours.

Kīlauea’s alert level has been elevated to “watch” as preliminary volcanic activity at the summit suggests a new lava fountaining episode is likely now through Thursday.

Next episode most likely to begin July 11 or 12; however, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports deflation began Saturday morning at the summit, and if that trend continues, fountaining could be pushed back.

Though most of state’s day-to-day seismic activity occurs within volcanic systems, these widely felt — often offshore — deep earthquakes are not at all directly related to magmatic processes; learn more in today’s “Volcano Watch.”

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports the temblor struck just after 8:15 p.m. July 9 about 34 miles west-southwest of Captain Cook at a depth of 24 miles below sea level; no damage to buildings or infrastructure expected.

Hawai‘i, the 50th state, reached a golden anniversary June 27: Episode 50 of the ongoing episodic summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island; the north vent served up a 1,030-foot lava fountain, the tallest since Episode 43.

The summit eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu has resumed with weak precursory spattering, no overflows have occurred at this time.

Professor Bruce Houghton retired in 2025 from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa after 25 years as the Gordon A. Macdonald Chairperson of Volcanology, but although he retired and returned to New Zealand, his connections to volcanology in Hawaiʻi remain strong.

Experts say the tremor is probably not related to the magnitude 6 earthquake that occurred on May 22.

Despite having breaks in activity during this ongoing eruption at the Kīlauea summit on the Big Island, monitoring data indicates activity is still elevated and the eruption is not finished, even if we don’t always see lava at the surface.

More than 169 “Felt Reports” were documented within the first hour of the tremor, which was felt widely across Hawai‘i Island.

This eruption is most remembered for the destruction of Ho‘ōpūloa village, a few miles north of Miloliʻi Bay.

Large eruptive plumes produced by the ongoing episodic summit eruption of Kīlauea volcano, which contain high concentrations of volcanic gases and tephra, and wind direction are the key to this answer.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported that the window for the next lava fountaining episode of the ongoing episodic eruption that began Dec. 23, 2024, is now between Saturday, May 30, and Monday, June 1.

The base of Mauna Loa sitting on top of the old oceanic crust is only 6 miles below sea level, so the major magnitude-6.0 earthquake the night of Friday, May 22, happened deeper than the volcano — even deeper than the base of the ocean crust, which is bent downward by the weight of the Hawaiian Island chain.

Homes were rattled off their foundations, cracks appeared in walls, windows were broken, giant boulders blocked residents in, stone walls collapsed, power went out and more following the magnitude-6.0 temblor just before 10 p.m. Friday, May 22.

Episode 47 of lava fountaining during the ongoing episodic summit eruption of the Big Island volcano tied the 1983-86 initial phase of the Pu‘u‘ō‘ō eruption on Kīlauea, which had a total of 47 events, for the most fountaining episodes ever recorded — so far — at the volcano; so how do these historic eruptions compare?

The latest Big Island volcano eruption with vibrant lava fountaining from the north vent of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater lasted nine hours before pausing again.