New Eruption Has Paused

The eruption in Halema'uma'u crater within Kaluapele (Kīlauea summit caldera) that began at 2:20 am HST this morning, December 23, appears to be paused. Throughout most of the day, lava fountained from vents in the southwest portion of the caldera. Initial fountain heights were estimated to be about 260 to 300 feet (80-90 meters) but decreased to about 55 yards (50 m) by 1:00 p.m. Around 3 pm, tilt at the summit stopped showing deflation and seismic tremor began decreasing. By 3:30 pm, lava fountains were barely visible. By 4 pm, fountaining stopped, and seismic tremor was close to background levels. Visible volcanic gas emissions also decreased significantly. The Kīlauea summit livestream video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live Lava has covered approximately 650 acres, including all of Halema'uma'u and most of the adjacent downdropped block. The lava is estimated to be about 1 yard (1 meter) thick, giving an estimated average effusion rate of 110 cubic yards per second (85 cubic meters per second) for the first 8 hours of the eruption. Conditions prevented measuring sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas emission rates by normal methods, but nearby monitoring stations estimated over 100,000 tonnes of SO2 per day around 8:00 am and decreasing by half in the early afternoon. These estimates are similar to values measured in the early stages of previous summit eruptions in the past 4 years. HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update tomorrow morning unless there are significant changes overnight. USGS photos: A lobe of molten pāhoehoe lava on the floor of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) on December 23, 2024 (photo by M. Patrick). Aerial view from the morning overflight shows the crater floor paved with new rock (photo by M. Zoeller). More Kīlauea photos/video: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/photo-and-video-chronology HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT U.S. Geological Survey Monday, December 23, 2024, 5:14 PM HST KILAUEA (VNUM #332010) 19°25'16" N 155°17'13" W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m) Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE Activity Summary: The eruption of Kīlauea slowed significantly between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. and appears to be paused. The eruption in Halema'uma'u crater within Kaluapele (Kīlauea summit caldera) that began at 2:20 a.m. HST this morning, December 23, continued through most of the day within a closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. There was no immediate threat to human life or infrastructure, but emission rates of volcanic gases were very high. Webcam imagery and field crew observations showed continued lava fountaining from vents in the southwest portion of the caldera with new lava covering approximately 650 acres, including all of Halema'uma'u and most of the adjacent downdropped block. The area covered so far is a little more than 1 square mile (2.6 square kilometers) and represents about one quarter of the area of Kaluapele. The lava is estimated to be about 1 yard (1 meter) thick, giving an estimated average effusion rate of 110 cubic yards per second (85 cubic meters per second) for the first 8 hours of the eruption. Initial fountain heights were estimated to be about 260 to 300 feet (80-90 meters) and had decreased to about 55 yards (50 m) by 1:00 p.m. Vigorous fountaining produced a plume of volcanic gas and particles that was transported downwind, in a southwest direction over a closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Conditions prevented measuring SO2 gas emission rates by normal methods, but nearby monitoring stations estimated over 100,000 tonnes of SO2 per day around 8:00 a.m.and decreasing by half in the early afternoon. These estimates are similar to values measured in the early stages of previous summit eruptions in the past 4 years. Around 3 p.m. today, tilt at the summit stopped showing deflation and seismic tremor began decreasing. By 3:30 p.m., lava fountains were barely visible. By 4 p.m., fountaining had stopped and seismic tremor was close to background levels. Visible volcanic gas emissions have also decreased significantly. These observations indicate that the eruption has slowed significantly and appears to be entering a pause. HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update tomorrow morning unless there are significant changes overnight. HVO remains in close contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency. Please see the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm The Kīlauea summit livestream video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live