Kilauea reawakened for about 12 hours on Monday, the first eruption since September 2023 for the world’s most active volcano.
No communities, structures or critical infrastructure were threatened by the remote, short-lived eruption, officials said.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) scientists said the eruption began roughly 2 miles southwest of the caldera at about 12:30 a.m Monday, and lava stopped flowing by about 12:30 p.m.
“However, activity in this region remains dynamic and could change quickly,” they said in an afternoon update. “HVO continues to closely monitor Kilauea and will issue additional notices as needed.”
After the early-morning eruption began, the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency raised the Kilauea volcano alert level for ground-based hazards from watch to warning, and the aviation color code from orange to red, then back to watch and orange again by the afternoon.
The latest eruption came a day after the summit region shook with hundreds of small earthquakes,as magma shifted near Halemaumau caldera.
“Earthquake activity decreased greatly in the summit region of Kilauea with the onset of the eruption. All seismicity for the last eight hours is concentrated near Maunaiki at the western extent of the system of cracks that opened during this eruption,” said HVO in an afternoon update.
“Ground deformation has been characterized by slow summit deflation since 2 a.m. HST, suggesting that magma may still be moving from summit storage to the southwest into the eruption area.”
The lava fissure was about 2.5 miles southwest of Kilauea caldera and was not accessible, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park officials said.
The eruption’s remote location also meant “the primary hazards at this time are airborne hazards related to gas emissions and tephra being blown downwind of the eruption,” the HVO said during the event. Tephra is the general term for anything thrown into the air during a volcanic eruption.
Although the eruption occurred in a closed area of the park, HVNP officials announced the temporary closures of several areas, including:
• Hilina Pali Road from Chain of Craters Road intersection
• Kulanaokuaiki campground
• Pepeiao Cabin
• Ka‘aha Trail and campground
• Ka‘u Desert Trail and pullout on Highway 11
• Maunaiki Trail.
On Sunday, HVO scientists reported an increase in seismic activity and ground movement near Kilauea’s summit starting around noon, indicating the likely movement of magma underground.
Rates of seismicity and deformation at the summit increased further after 5 p.m., and authorities raised the Kilauea volcano alert level for ground-based hazards from advisory to watch and the aviation color code from yellow to orange.
They said there were about 250 earthquakes beneath Kilauea’s summit over eight hours with some seismic activity beneath the upper East Rift Zone. The largest earthquakes included a magnitude-4.1 temblor at 9:12 p.m. Sunday and a magnitude-4.0 event at 7:07 p.m.
