#Halemaumau

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.

The eruption of Kīlauea slowed significantly between 3 and 4 p.m. on Monday, and appears to have paused, according to a status update posted by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The eruption started just hours earlier at 2:20 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2024.

Kīlauea volcano began erupting within the summit caldera at approximately 2:20 a.m. HST this morning, Dec. 23, 2024, following an increase in seismicity that began beneath the summit just a half hour earlier, at approximately 2 a.m. HST. Multiple fountaining sources are erupting lava flows on the base of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, wiithin Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Monitoring and understanding the lake was important because the presence of water increased the possibility of violent phreatic (steam-driven) explosions once Kīlauea erupted again, as there have been such eruptions in Kīlauea’s past.

In May of this year, a group of volcano geochemists and petrologists (scientists who study the chemistry, textures, and origins of volcanic rocks) met in Hilo to discuss how to improve our understanding of magma storage and evolution at Kīlauea.

Seismicity remains above background levels. Ground deformation also continues beneath Halemaʻumaʻu and the south caldera region. Magma has been pressurizing the system beneath Halemaʻumaʻu and Kīlauea’s south caldera region for several weeks.

Thousands of rocks were tossed high in the air, littering the caldera floor. Intense electrical storms accompanied some of the explosions, and lightning took out powerlines far down the road to Hilo.

Magma continues to pressurize the system beneath Halemaʻumaʻu and the south side of Kalaupele and Keanakākoʻi crater, activating seismicity along faults in the upper East Rift Zone. At this time, it is not possible to say whether this increase in activity will lead to an intrusion or eruption soon or simply continue as seismic unrest at depth.

Earthquake swarms like this can precede eruptions, but there is no lateral or upward migration of earthquakes that would suggest magma is moving toward the surface at this time.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory issued an information statement on Friday evening reporting elevated unrest and increased seismicity to the south of Kīlauea’s summit. The HVO reports that Kīlauea is not erupting, but that the increased unrest started at around 1:10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, and is continuing.

Explosive eruptions are not bad everywhere.  Hawaiian society southeast of Kīlauea’s summit actually benefited from some of them. These benefits result from the deposits of fine volcanic ash that transformed a barren sea of pāhoehoe into an area capable of sustaining agriculture.