New USGS webcam view of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea showing the pause in activity

(BIVN) – After vigorous lava fountaining for nearly half of the day on Christmas, the new eruption at the summit of Kīlauea has once again paused. 

Episode 2 of the summit eruption that began in the early morning hours of December 23rd paused just before 11 a.m. on December 25th. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory says Episode 2 lasted a little over 24 hours, which is about twice the duration of the first eruptive episode. 

From an update by the USGS HVO:

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 the nearly the same time that summit tiltmeters began recording a change from deflation to inflation. Seismic tremor also decreased markedly at the same time. The pattern was similar but more abrupt than the onset of the pause on Monday, December 23, that occurred between 3 and 4 p.m.

USGS HVO scientists say prior summit eruptions have lasted days to weeks, and “there is a high probability that this eruption will resume if the summit repressurizes over the coming days.”

HVO says it continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update tomorrow morning unless there are significant changes overnight.