USGS webcam view from the bluff at Uēkahuna shows volcanic gas escaping from Kaluapele, the Kīlauea caldera

(BIVN) – The Kīlauea summit eruption remains paused, but scientists say the next eruptive episode is likely to begin soon. 

“Given current rates of reinflation, a new episode is expected in the next 1-2 days with Monday most likely,” the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory wrote on Sunday morning. 

All eruptive activity is occurring in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The USGS Volcano Alert Level for Kīlauea remains at WATCH. 

Episode 12 ended at 10:37 a.m. HST on March 5 after 22 hours of activity, “though lava flows continue to spread out on eastern side of the crater”, scientists say. 

USGS: “A view across of the new lava flows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu, looking towards the active north and south vents on the west wall of the crater.” (USGS photo by D. Downs on March 5, 2025)

From the Sunday update posted by the USGS HVO:

Both the north and south vents continued to glow last night, with a noticeable increase on the V1 camera in the early morning hours. Glow from the north vent illuminated the back wall of the cone, indicating magma continues to rise in the conduit. Lava flows unrelated to the episode 12 eruption continue to slowly spread out on the down-dropped block on the eastern side of Halemaʻumaʻu. These are fed from by older stored lava from beneath the crater floor.

Summit tilt continues in an inflationary direction and has recovered nearly 9 microradians (at Uēkahuna bluff) as of March 9, since the end of episode 12. Three earthquakes were located within Kīlauea’s summit region yesterday, all below magnitude-2.0. Volcanic tremor decreased significantly with the end of episode 12. Rates of SO2 emissions have dropped since the end of the episode and were measured at 1,000 tonnes/day on Friday, which is in the typical range for eruption pauses.

Episodes of Halemaʻumaʻu lava fountaining since December 23, 2024, have continued for 13 hours to 8 days and episodes have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting from less than 24 hours to 12 days. While episode 12 began with intermittent eruption at 7:30 a.m. HST, continuous eruption did not begin until 12:45 p.m. HST and lasted for just under 22 hours.

Strands of volcanic glass known as Pele’s Hair have been reported on surfaces throughout the summit area of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and surrounding communities.

Rates of seismicity and ground deformation remain very low in the East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone, scientists report, with no significant earthquake activity in the past 24 hours. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) from the East Rift Zone remains below detection limit.