#Halemaumau

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.

The Halemaʻumaʻu eruption of Kīlauea is paused. The summit is currently deflating, but tremor continues. Preliminary models suggest the forecast window for the onset of episode 44 lava fountaining is March 30 to April 8.

Episode 43 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended at 6:21 p.m. on March 10, 2026, and the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption is currently paused.

Large lava fountains streamed from both the north and south vents reaching heights of at least 1475 feet during episode 41 of Kīlauea’s summit eruption on Jan. 24, 2026.  Strong updrafts coupled with light winds blowing to the east and north sent lava fragments from the fountains, called tephra, over much of the District of Puna and into South Hilo and the eastern edge of Kaʻū.

While the mid-20th century episodic eruption and current ongoing eruption within the summit caldera of Kīlauea volcano on the Big Island share similarities, there also are several differences.

The ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at Kīlauea is paused, per an announcement from the US Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at 9:06 a.m.

Episode 36 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 4:16 p.m. HST on November 9 after just under 5 hours of continuous fountaining. Lava fountains reached a maximum of 1000-1100 ft during this episode.

Precursory low-level activity for episode 35 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption increased on Thursday morning, Oct. 16, 2025, with a series of lava overflows and drainbacks occurring from the south vent. 

With the 30th episode, came one of the most significant changes since the eruption started—a new fissure in the caldera wall.

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.

Episode 28 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 1:20 p.m. HST on July 9, 2025, after 9 hours of continuous fountaining, the final 8 of which were high fountaining.

Episode 25 precursory activity started within Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea on the morning of June 10. Glow and scattered spattering at the north vent changed to more continuous spattering in the early morning hours, according to a status update from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Dive beneath the solidified crust on the floor of the crater to explore the complicated mix of molten material below. 

The fountaining phase of the latest episode began at 3:20 a.m. this morning and lasted for 10 hours and 8 minutes.  

Episode 18 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 10:01 p.m. HST on April 16, 2025 when lava started overflowing from the north vent.

Episode 11 of the ongoing Kīlauea eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu began at  6:26 p.m. HST on Feb. 25, 2025 within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The intensity and height of fountaining has continued to escalate since the eruption began reaching heights of over 200 feet by 6:50 p.m. HST.

Captivating lava fountains burst from either one or both of the vents during each eruptive episode. However, as fascinating as those episodes are, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are equally as interested in what’s happening beneath the surface between episodes.

Episode 8 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at Kīlauea began at 9:52 p.m. HST on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025 and is currently fountaining from the north vent.

The summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Dec. 23 entered its fourth eruptive episode on Jan. 15 and continues this morning. Activity is concentrated at two lava fountains in southwest Kaluapele that have each built up a cone and have associated lava flows.

The summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Dec. 23 appears to have entered its forth eruptive episode this morning at about 9:15 a.m. with a small lava flow exiting the north vent, following low-level continuous lava spattering that started around 5:40 a.m. from the same vent.