image from USGS webcam showing panorama of Halemaʻumaʻu and down-dropped caldera floor from the west rim of the summit caldera, taken on Monday morning just before 9 a.m.

(BIVN) – The eruption of lava from the west vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea resumed on Sunday evening and continues this morning.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says that at approximately 9:30 p.m. HST on January 30, lava began to overflow the west vent cone to the northwest.

“The ponded area north of the west vent quickly filled with lava, which was flowing into the active lava lake occupying the western portion of Halema‘uma‘u by 10 p.m. last night,” scientists wrote. “The active lava lake began to rise and itself was overflowing by midnight. Lava flows traveled to the south and then east, along the margin of Halema‘uma‘u crater. Lava also began to ooze out along the north margin of the larger inactive lava lake surface just after 5 a.m. this morning.”

The new activity also brought some changes to the lava lake level. From the USGS:

The lava lake depth remained relatively stable at 77 meters (253 feet) deep relative to when lava emerged on September 29, 2021, until approximately 10 p.m. yesterday evening, January 30. Between 10 p.m. yesterday and midnight, the active lake level rose approximately 13 meters (43 feet). Since midnight, the lava lake has remained relatively stable, fluctuating a couple meters (several feet) in level. As of 8 a.m. HST this morning, the lava lake is approximately 91 meters (299 feet) deep relative to when lava emerged on September 29, 2021. Measurements on January 25, 2022, indicated that the total lava volume effused since the beginning of the eruption was approximately 45 million cubic meters (12.0 billion gallons) at that time.

The eruption resumed prior to the occurrence of a Magnitude-4.0 earthquake under the south part of Hawai‘i island early Monday morning. “The earthquake had no apparent effect on Kīlauea or Mauna Loa volcanoes,” said HVO Scientist-in-Charge Ken Hon.

As has been the case for the entire four-month eruption so far, all lava activity has been confined to the crater, and there are no indications of activity migrating elsewhere on Kīlauea.