Hawaii Eruption Information

Eruption returns in Halemaumau Crater

December 2024 - April 2025 Eruption

Episode I

The eruption within Halemaumau Crater (view USGS Eruption GIF here) began at approximately 2:20 a.m. on Monday, December 23, 2024, and vents erupted on the floor of the southwest part of the summit caldera.

At 4:30 a.m., lava fountains were observeEd with heights up to 80 meters (262 feet). Molten material, including lava bombs, was being ejected from the vents on the caldera floor up onto the west caldera rim, within the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The volcanic gas and ejecta hazards west of the erupting vents stress the hazardous nature of this closed area of Kīlauea's summit. By 5:30 a.m., lava covered an estimated area of 400 acres of the caldera floor.  

Eruptive activity is currently confined to the summit region. No significant changes have been observed in the rift zones.

Around 3 p.m. on the eruption day, the summit's tilt stopped showing deflation, and seismic tremors began decreasing. By 3:30 p.m., lava fountains were barely visible. By 4 p.m., the 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 considerably and appears to be entering a pause.

Episode II

The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began on Monday, December 23, continued the morning of December 25, 2024.  The eruption had been relatively stable over the past day, following the resumption of activity that occurred yesterday morning. Vigorous lava fountains remain active in the western portion of Halema‘uma‘u crater, sending lava flows across the crater floor. Eruptive activity remains confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the downdropped block within the caldera and may fluctuate in vigor over the coming days.

Episode 2 of the December 2024 summit eruption of Kīlauea paused just before 11:00 a.m. on Christmas Day. 

The vigorous fountaining from vents in the southwest corner of Halemaʻmaʻu crater rapidly died down over a few minutes just before 11:00 a.m.  Lava began draining back into the vent at 11:00 a.m. at nearly the same time summit tiltmeters began recording a change from deflation to inflation.  Seismic tremors also decreased markedly at the same time.  The pattern was similar but more abrupt than the pause onset on Monday, December 23, between 3 and 4 p.m. 

Episode 2 lasted a little over 24 hours, about twice the duration of the first eruptive episode.  Prior summit eruptions have lasted days to weeks, and there is a high probability that this eruption will resume if the summit repressurizes in the coming days.

Episode III

Around 6 p.m. on December 27, 2024, the eruption transitioned from low level lava flows to the onset of more vigorous fountaining.

Lava began erupting from vents around 8 a.m. yesterday morning (December 26) marking the beginning of the third phase of the ongoing summit eruption.  Sluggish lava flows continued to erupt from the northern vents for the next day and a half. This was much longer than the 3-4 hours of sluggish eruption that preceded the fountaining of the second episode. Current fountain is occurring bursts up to 30-45 ft (10-15 m) high from the two most northern vents. If fountaining continues, it is possible that the fountain heights will increase as more gas-rich lava erupted. It is not possible to estimate how high the fountains may get or how long the fountaining will last, but prior episodes have produced fountains over 200 feet high (70 m) that last up to 24 hours.

The eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu crater paused at approximately 8:40 p.m. on January 3, 2025, with both fountaining and lava flow effusion ceasing at the same time. Currently there is no lava draining back into the southern vent, which was the only vent actively erupting at the time.

Episode IV

Around 9:15 a.m. HST on January 15, 2025, the eruption of Kīlauea within Kaluapele (summit caldera) resumed with a small lava flow exiting the north vent, following low-level continuous lava spattering that started around 5:40 a.m. HST. from the same vent. Around 9:55 a.m., low-level lava fountaining started with more rigorous lava flow activity.

The small sluggish lava flow from the north vent at around 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday January 15, 2025, marks the beginning of the fourth episode of the ongoing summit eruption.

On January 18, 2025, the eruption within Kaluapele (summit caldera) paused around 10:10 a.m. H.S.T. Activity greatly decreased at approximately 9:45 a.m. the morning of January 18, 2025, when the north vent fountain and associated lava flow stopped erupting, and south vent activity greatly diminished at the same time. Lava continued to flow from south vent for another 20 minutes at a much reduced rate.

Episode V

The eruption of Kīlauea within Kaluapele (summit caldera) resumed just before 3:00 p.m. HST on January 22, 2025. This marks the beginning of the fifth episode of the current eruption that began on December 23, 2024, following the most recent pause that began on Saturday, January 18, 2025.

The summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began in Halemaʻumaʻu crater on December 23, 2025 ended its 5th episode at 4:30 AM HST January 23, 2025, after 26 hours of eruptive activity from the north vent. The 5th episode began at 2:30 p.m. HST January 22, 2025 and continued overnight with fountaining to 30-50 m height and Pele's hair observed at the Steaming bluff car park.  The 5th episode activity was accompanied by tremor on seismometers, deflation on near vent tiltmeters and gas discharge estimated at greater than 10000 tonnes per day.  The fountain activity stopped suddenly at about 4:30 AM HST along with the end of lava effusion from the vent.  Seismic tremor diminished at this time and returned to pre- fountaining levels.  A strong glow from the north vent indicates that magma remains close to the surface of Halemaʻumaʻu within Kaluapele (the summit caldera).

Episode VI

The eruption of Kīlauea within Halemaʻumaʻu crater resumed at 11:28 p.m. HST on January 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 December 23, 2024, following the most recent pause that began on Thursday January 23, 2025 at 4:30 a.m. HST.

The eruption of Kīlauea within Halemaʻumaʻu crater paused at 12:36 p.m. HST on January 25, 2025, when fountain-fed lava flows stopped erupting out of the north vent.

Episode 6 began at 11:28 p.m. on January 24, 2025, and lasted for just over 13 hours.

Episode VII

Episode 7 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 6:41 pm HST on January 27, 2025 and is currently feeding a small flow onto the crater floor.

Episode 7 was preceded by small, sporadic spatter fountains that began at approximately 1:30 p.m. and continued to increase in intensity until 6:41 p.m., when sustained fountaining began. Fountains from the north vent are 100-120 feet (30-40 meters) high and feeding multiple lava streams at 7:40 pm HST. The flow had covered 15-20% of the crater floor this time. A small fountain can be seen in the south vent and there is a small lava flow emerging from the south side of its cone at 7:35 p.m. HST on webcams. 

Episode 7 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 10:47 a.m. HST on January 28, 2025.

The southern vent stopped erupting just after 10:43 a.m. HST followed shutdown of the north vent at 10:47 a.m. HST.  Lava flows from this episode covered more than half of the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu within the southern part of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera). 

Episode VIII

Kīlauea eruption paused at 7:23 p.m. HST, February 4, 2025. Episode 8 of the ongoing summit eruption in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park has ended.

Episode 8 lasted approximately 21.5 hours. Lava flows and fountains stopped erupting from the north vent at about 7:07 p.m., followed by the south vent at 7:23 p.m. Lava flows from episode 8 covered greater than half of the Halema'uma'u crater floor.

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

Episode 8 was preceded by small, sporadic spatter fountains that began on Sunday evening, February 2, 2025, which began to increase in intensity in the afternoon on February 3, 2025 until 9:52 p.m., when sustained fountaining began. Fountains from the north vent have grown from 50 ft (15m) to over 250 ft (80 m) high in an hour and are feeding multiple lava streams at 10:50 p.m. HST. Active lava flows now cover approximately 15-20% of the crater floor.

Episode IX

Kīlauea stopped erupting the morning of February 12, 2025, in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Episode 9 of the ongoing summit eruption paused at 8:43 a.m. HST.

This was the ninth episode of Kīlauea's ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Kaluapele (the summit caldera) that began on December 23, 2024. Fountain-fed lava flows from the north and south vents erupted onto the crater floor for over 22 hours. There have been nine episodes of lava fountaining separated by pauses in activity. All recent eruptive activity has occurred in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. No significant changes have been noted along Kīlauea’s East or Southwest Rift Zone.

Episode 9 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began the morning of February 11, 2025, at 10:16 a.m. HST, with lava fountains producing a lava flow on the Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor.

Episode 9 was preceded by small, sporadic spatter fountains that began early yesterday (February 10, 2025) morning and increased in intensity overnight. Fountains from the north vent are estimated to be roughly 330 feet (100 meters) high at 10:45 a.m. and covering about a quarter of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor. Slow effusion of lava at the south vent began at approximately 10:50 a.m.

Episode X

Episode 10 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended at 9:18 a.m. HST on February 20, 2025, after just under 13 hours of fountaining.

Episode 10 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 8:22 p.m. HST on February 19, 2025, with low-level fountaining within Halema'uma'u Caldera.

Fountains from the north vent are 300-400 feet (90-125 meters) high and feeding multiple lava streams between 8:22 and 9:05 p.m. HST. Less than 10% of Halemaʻumaʻu is currently covered with lava flows as of 8:45 p.m.

Episode XI

Episode 11 of the Kīlauea summit eruption paused at 7:06 a.m. HST on February 26, 2025, within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park after erupting for 12 hours and 44 minutes.

Episode 11 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 6:26 p.m. HST on February 25, 2025, within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The eruption began with low-intensity spatter with lava erupting onto the caldera floor through a spillway in the north vent. The intensity and height of fountaining have continued to escalate since the eruption began reaching heights of over 200 feet (60 m) by 6:50 p.m. HST.  Lava flows have covered 10-15% of the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu at this time.

Additional eruption information can be found under the Current Conditions section.

Eruption in remote part of HVNP

September 2024 Eruption

Kilauea volcano erupted briefly just west of Napau Crater on the middle East Rift Zone. This eruption likely occurred between approximately 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. HST on Sunday 15, 2024, in a remote and closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Chain of Craters Road, which is closed, is located downslope and downwind of the new fissures.

On September 16, 2024 the eruption resumed in the middle East Rift Zone at about 6 p.m. HST. Activity continued overnight, but generally decreased.

On September 17, 2024, approximately 4 a.m. HST, activity increased and during a morning overflight at approximately 8 a.m. HST, HVO geologists observed that new vents had opened in Nāpau Crater. In total, the fissure system has stretched over 1.6 kilometers (1.0 miles) of the East Rift Zone, with lava flows now covering 18 hectares (44 acres).

On September 18, 2024, during the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory morning monitoring overflight, geologists observed that the activity had greatly decreased. Only weak low fountaining within a tiny lava pond was observed at one vent.

At 3:15 p.m. HST, on September 18, 2024, new eruptive fissures opened west of Napau Crater. A monitoring camera deployed by HVO field crews with permission from Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park recorded “lava falls” cascading down the northwest walls of Napau Crater. Vigorous activity continued and by the morning of September 19, about 2/3 of Napau Crater floor had been covered with new lava.

As of 10 a.m. HST on September 20, 2024, eruptive activity had paused.

As noted previously, additional Kilauea & Mauna Loa eruption history events can now be found on our Big Island Historical Eruptions page.