Kīlauea boasts impressive lava display, as Hawaiʻi readies to ring in the New Year

Madam Pele continued her impressive fire display this morning, whipping up 65- to 100-foot-high fountains of lava on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea volcano.

The current eruption phase began Dec. 23. In the 24 hours prior to this morning, vents in the southwest portion of the caldera have produced a fan of lava flows covering the southwest portion of the crater floor, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported.

Eruptions have been confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the downdropped block within the caldera. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.  

Earthquakes at the summit over the last 24 hours have been low with one small detected earthquake and none in rift zones.

“Seismic tremor remains increased gradually over the past few days with the increase in fountaining but has remained constant for the past 24 hours,” the observatory said. “Summit tilt meters continue to record deflationary tilt that began just after midnight on Dec. 29. Sulfur dioxide emissions remain elevated, with a gas plume rising above the caldera this morning and carried to the southwest.”

Webcam images show the eruption within Kaluapele (the summit caldera) continued this morning from vents on the southwest side of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

“Effusion of lava over the past day has produced a broad area of flows that cover the southwest portion of the crater, with a slight reduction in the area of active flows over the past day,” the observatory reported.

To view the Kīlauea summit eruption livestream, visit https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live   Note: the livestream camera will be undergoing work this morning and will be down several hours.

Scientists say the current eruption at the summit of Kīlauea is the sixth eruption within the caldera since 2020.

“These eruptions in the summit region have lasted for about a week to more than a year in duration. This eruption, like most others, started with vigorous lava and volcanic gas emission, but has paused twice and today shows moderate levels of activity.  Current fountaining intensity has been associated with deflation of the summit magma reservoir, which in earlier episodes led to pauses in eruptive activity; it is uncertain if these fountaining levels will be sustained. Previous summit eruptions have exhibited vigorous activity in the opening days which can episodically wax and wane, or drop over time to sustainable low effusion rates, or slowly diminish and end.”

For visitor information, go to the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website at https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.  For discussion of Kīlauea hazards, see: https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/hazards.