#Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

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.

The onset of episode 47 lava fountaining is forecasted at any time.

Webcam observations of small spatter bursts indicate that lava is close to the surface in the eruptive vents, according to a report from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory this morning.

In March, a team of U.S. Geological Survey scientists, including two from Hawaiʻi, visited El Salvador in Central America for volcanological field studies and a workshop on lava flow hazards.

Episode 46 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption is forecast to start before Thursday, May 7.

These past eruptions outside Halemaʻumaʻu are evidence that such eruptions could also occur in the future; and while there have been ongoing earthquakes beneath Kīlauea’s summit, they are not indicative of an imminent eruption along the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu.

Conditions in and around the closed area at the summit of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park can evolve quickly, and elevate the risk of rockfalls, ground cracking and other potentially life‑threatening hazards.

On Tuesday afternoon, shallow earthquakes are being detected beneath the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, as well as localized ground deformation in the south caldera region of Kīlauea summit.

Comparing different eruptions can be a bit like comparing apples to oranges. But no matter how you compare, the ongoing eruption made an impression in terms of its longevity, with two active vents and impacts to areas downwind, including the changing topography of the summit.