Eruption at Kīlauea remains paused since Friday night

The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, Dec. 23 remains paused as of 8:40 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Glow from the crater floor remains but is much diminished from the previous night. Glow could persist for days. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone, according to the HVO.

Seismicity at the summit over the last 24 hours remains low with five small detected earthquakes, the HVO reports. Emissions of SO2 remain elevated, but lower than those recorded during eruptive activity, and will be affected by wind conditions.

 Webcam images over the past 24 hour show diminished glow on the crater floor from residual lava after the lava fountain from the south vent shut down rapidly around 8:40 p.m. on Jan. 3 (the north vent shut down at 2:16 p.m. on Jan. 2).

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. This eruption, like most others, started with vigorous lava and volcanic gas emission, but has now paused for the third time.

Summit eruptions observed over the past 60 years 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.