Early stage of Episode 8 recorded by a USGS webcam on Monday evening.

(BIVN) – Episode 8 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption began on Monday evening.

The sporadic lava spattering that was observed over the past day at the north vent within Halemaʻumaʻu suddenly turned into a full fountain by 9:52 p.m., sending rapid flows onto the crater floor.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory noted the fountaining from the north vent “rapidly increased to 50 to 80 feet high” in a short time.

All eruptive activity is occurring within the summit caldera inside Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

UPDATE – From the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Monday evening:

Episode 8 was preceded by small, sporadic spatter fountains that began on Sunday evening, February 2, which began to increase in intensity in the afternoon on 3 February until 9:52 p.m., when sustained fountaining began. Fountains from the north vent have grown from 50 ft (15m) to over 250 ft (80 m) high in an hour and are feeding multiple lava streams at 10:50 p.m. HST. Active lava flows now cover approximately 15-20% of the crater floor. 

Seismic tremor began increasing and tilt at UWD switched from inflation to deflation at about 09:52 p.m. HST, the same time lava flows began erupting onto the crater floor. 

Each episode of Halemaʻumaʻu 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. 

The USGS Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code for Kīlauea remains at WATCH/ORANGE.