USGS webcam view of Episode 7

UPDATE – (10:45 p.m.) – Episode 7 of the ongoing Kilauea summit eruption continued into Monday night, with fountains from the north vent measuring 100 to 120 feet high, feeding lava flows onto the crater floor. A fountain also emerged from the south vent as well.

No changes have been detected in the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone. The USGS Volcano Alert Level for Kīlauea remains at WATCH.

USGS webcam view of Episode 7

(BIVN) – Episode 7 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption began on Monday evening, after a two-day pause in activity. 

The eruption remains confined to the summit caldera within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

Lava spatter reappeared within the north vent at Halemaʻumaʻu at around 1:30 p.m. HST this afternoon (January 27), which – along with the increasing tilt – was an indication that the latest episode was about to get underway. 

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported the episode officially began at 6:41 p.m., with 10 to 20-foot lava fountains feeding a small flow into the crater floor. Fountains later grew to heights of 60 to 100 feet. 

HVO stated that the episode is likely to last between 10 and 20 hours. 

UPDATE – From the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory:

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. 

Inflationary tilt at the summit recovered the 2.5 microradian tilt loss during episode 6 by 3:00 p.m. on January 27 and had increased another 0.5 microradians just before episode 7 started. Seismic tremor began increasing and tilt at UWD switched from inflation to deflation at about 6:40 p.m. about the same time lava flows began erupting onto the crater floor. 

No changes have been detected in the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

Each episode of lava fountaining since December 23, 2024, has continued for 13 hours to 8 days and episodes have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting a less than 24 hours to 12 days. Based on the durations of episodes 5 and 6 and the short pauses that separated them, episode 7 will probably last 10-20 hours.

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