#Halemaumau crater

While it is challenging that a small portion of the Kīlauea monitoring network is impacted by the ongoing summit eruption, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says maintaining the network during eruptions comes with the job when it’s monitoring one of the most active volcanoes on Earth.

High fountains lasted nearly 11 hours and produced about 1.6 bilion gallons of lava, covering 80% of the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater floor within the Big Island volcano’s summit caldera. Lava flows from this episode could continue to exhibit slow movement or incandescence throughout the coming days.

Record-setting lava fountain and plume heights were reached during Episode 23 of the Kīlauea summit caldera eruption. Given increasing airborne hazards associated with each new eruptive episode, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is changing its episode notification types.

Lava fountains reach more than 1,000 feet, volcanic plume soars at least 5,000 feet before most recent phase of eruptive activity — that teased for several days — abruptly ends after just 6 hours and 10 minutes Sunday night.

Kīlauea summit has shown little net change in pressurization since the eruption began Dec. 23, 2024, indicating the summit has been in some level of equilibrium. As long as that equilibrium is maintained, the episodic eruption at the summit is likely to continue.

The eruption of Kīlauea within Halemaʻumaʻu crater resumed at 11:28 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, when fountain-fed lava flows erupted out of the north vent. This marks the beginning of the sixth episode of the current eruption that began on Dec. 23, 2024.

Kīlauea volcano continues to erupt in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park from the new fissure vent that opened just west of Nāpau Crater on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at around 3:15 p.m., according to a daily update from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. This is the fourth vent system of this eruption. The first fissures of this eruption occurred on the night of Sept. 15 on the middle East Rift Zone.

A swarm of earthquakes that began June 27 at the upper East Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano — just southeast of the summit region — abated on Monday, according to a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory daily status report given at 7:35 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Increased earthquake activity and inflationary ground deformation at Kīlauea’s summit began occurring during the early morning hours of Jan. 31, 2024, indicating movement of magma in the subsurface, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Scientists with the HVO issued an activity notice, but noted that Kīlauea volcano is not erupting.

There have been five eruption events at the Kīlauea summit since 2020. Deputy Scientist-in-Chief David Phillips said this eruption ended suddenly, similar to the previous eruption that spewed lava from June 7 to 19.

The Keanakākoʻi viewing area is closed due to unsafe air quality. A plume of volcanic smoke contains sulfur dioxide, other gases and shards of volcanic glass that pose a significant risk, according to the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Service.

The summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano has paused, according to an update issued by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Monday evening.

The agency reports that lava fountain heights have decreased since the eruption onset on June 7, but remain up to about 30 feet high. 

Kīlauea volcano began erupting within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit during the early morning of June 7. The eruption marks another in a series of recent eruptions that the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has been able to successfully forecast.

The summit eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, continues with all recent eruptive activity confined to the crater, according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory sets the Volcano Alert Level and Aviation Color Code for volcanoes in Hawaiʻi and American Samoa. Currently, Kīlauea is erupting and is at WATCH/ORANGE, Mauna Loa is in elevated unrest and is at ADVISORY/YELLOW, and the remaining six monitored volcanoes are at NORMAL/GREEN. 

Damage classification included all types of structures, including homes, water tanks and other farming or industrial buildings. Inundating 14 square miles (35.5 square km) of land, Kīlauea’s 2018 lava flows destroyed 1,839 and damaged 90 structures in total. These are the highest recorded numbers of impacted structures from a lava flow event in Hawaiʻi and one of the highest globally. 

A seismic swarm of approximately 50 small earthquakes was reported over a three hour period, beginning at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, beneath the Kīlauea summit, according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

In one dictionary definition, a volcano is a vent in the earth’s crust through which rock or lava is ejected. In another, a volcano is a cone-shaped hill or mountain built around a vent. Most volcanologists find both of these dictionary definitions somewhat lacking.

Typically, in a given year, 40–50 volcanoes erupt, or a bit less than 10% of the world’s active volcanoes.  Let’s take a look at a few of Kīlauea’s notable contemporaries this year.