At dawn on Dec. 31, 2024 the eruption in Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) continued. The plume of volcanic gas seen here was blown to the southwest of Kaluapele across the closed Crater Rim Drive in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS photo by K. Lynn.
The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, Dec. 23, continues this morning, according to a daily update issued by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. 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.
Eruptive activity has been confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the down-dropped block within the caldera. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.
At 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2024, the eruption continued in Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) with 50–80 foot (15–25 meter) lava fountains from two vents. A Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field crew observed continuous fountaining that fed an expanding lava fan across the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. USGS photo by K. Lynn.Zoom view of the lava flow field from the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption on Dec. 31, 2024. The eruption continues to feed lava throughout Halemaʻumaʻu crater, where lava channels and outbreak lobes like these are forming. USGS photo by H. Winslow.Photo of the lava fountains and flows within the western part of Halema‘uma‘u crater just before dawn on Dec. 30, 2024. The lava fountains have started to build scoria cones around themselves with the fountains consistently reaching to 30 m (100 ft) high. These fountains are feeding lava flows that have covered the western quarter of the crater floor. Photo by US Geological Survey geologist D. Downs.This panorama, stitched from eight photos taken at different angles, shows the eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater and its volcanic gas plume in the dawn light on Dec. 31, 2024. USGS photo by K. Lynn.
Seismicity at the summit over the last 24 hours has been low with 10 small detected earthquakes, two in the upper ERZ, and three in the SWRZ, the HVO reports. SO2 emissions remain elevated, with a gas plume rising above the caldera this morning that is being carried to the southwest.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
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, according to the HVO.
“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,” the HVO reports.
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