Eruption still paused….HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE U.S. Geological Survey Thursday, February 27, 2025
HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE
U.S. Geological Survey
Thursday, February 27, 2025
KILAUEA (VNUM #332010)
19°25’16” N 155°17’13” W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: WATCH
Current Aviation Color Code: ORANGE
Activity Summary:
Kīlauea summit eruption paused as of at 7:06 a.m. HST on February 26 within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. A new episode is likely within the next 5-10 days.
Episode 11 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 6:26 p.m. HST on February 25 and fountains reached peak heights of around 600 feet (180 m) 1-2 hours later. The eruption ended on erupting after 12 hours and 40 minutes of activity. Kīlauea’s current eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Kaluapele (the summit caldera) began on December 23, 2024. There have been 11 episodes of lava fountaining separated by pauses in activity. All eruptive activity remains within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. No significant activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.
Current hazards include volcanic gas emissions and windblown volcanic glass (Pele’s Hair) that may impact Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and nearby communities.
Summit Observations:
Lava flows and fountains stopped erupting from the south vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at about 7:06 a.m. HST on February 26. Lava flows from episode 11 covered approximately 75%-80% of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor. Last night strong intermittent glow was present at the south vent, but the north vent remained uncharacteristically dark. A large crustal overturn occurred in the center of Halemaʻumaʻu and a few small breakouts continued from the flow front in the SE corner of the crater floor. During the day and into the evening yesterday, a flow was emplaced in the NE corner of Halemaʻumaʻu crater that appears to have been emplaced from beneath the crater floor rather than from the recent flows. This flow is related to early glow detected along the September 2023 vents in the eastern part of Halemaʻumaʻu and several small flows that seem to have originated from this area during episode 11.
Summit tilt changed rapidly from inflation to deflation at the onset of the eruption (6:26 p.m. HST February 25) and dropped about 10 microradians during the eruption. Tilt turned back to inflation at 6:35 a.m. HST February 26 when fountaining at the north vent stopped. Seismic tremor increased rapidly at the onset of the eruption and decreased sharply when the north vent fountains stopped and returned to the high background levels when the fountaining at the south vent stopped a half an hour later. The Uēkahuna (UWD) tiltmeter has recorded a little over 2 microradians of inflationary tilt since the end of episode 11. No seismicity was recorded at Kīlauea’s summit over the past 24 hours.
Volcanic gas emissions remain elevated. Based on measurements made during earlier episodes and pauses, sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rates are likely to be approximately 1,000 t/d during the current pause. An SO2 emission rate of 2,100 t/d was measured at 11 am on February 20.
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.
- Summit eruption livestream: https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live
- Summit eruption webcams: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/summit-webcams
Rift Zone Observations:
Rates of seismicity and ground deformation remain very low in the East Rift Zone and Southwest Rift Zone with no significant earthquake activity in the past 24 hours. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from the East Rift Zone remain below detection limit.
Analysis:
The current eruption is marked by episodic fountaining not seen in any of the other Halemaʻumaʻu eruptions since 2020. Fountains and lava flows have erupted from two vents that we refer to as the north vent and south vent. The 10 fountaining episodes lasted from a few hours to over a week. Each fountaining episode has been accompanied by strong deflation of the summit region. Pauses between the fountaining episodes have been marked by an immediate change from deflation to inflation as the magma chamber recharges and repressurizes.
Analysis of inflationary tilt patterns prior to the onset of each fountaining episode allows a time window of probability for the onset of new episodes to be estimated. These are calculated using both minimum inflation necessary to start a new eruption and the rate of inflation. Preliminary estimates from the past 24 hours of data suggest that the most likely start of the next episode will come in the next 5-10 days, beween Tuesday March 4 and Sunday March 9 depending on inflation rates at the summit.
