UPDATE – (4 p.m.) – The eruption at the summit of Kīlauea remains paused, despite the intermittent spatter observed at the caldera vents Sunday night and this morning. From the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Monday, February 3rd:
Bright glow, intermittent spatter, and continued degassing from the eruptive vents in Halemaʻumaʻu indicate that magma is close to the surface. Lava flows from episode 7 covered nearly half of Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor, and spots of orange glow can still be seen on the crater floor as the erupted lava continues to cool.
Inflationary tilt continues but the rate of inflation has slowed to less than 1 microradian per day. The Uēkahuna tiltmeter (UWD) recorded less than 1 microradian of inflationary tilt over the past 24 hours and has been mostly stable for the past 15 hours. No significant earthquake activity was recorded in the summit region over the past 24 hours. Low level seismic tremor continues.
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 previous 7 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 high 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.
The current pause entered the time window that a new eruptive episode is likely to start on January 31. However, deflationary tilt excursions and low inflation rates have resulted in only minor net inflation since that time. Persistent glow has been present at the north vent the entire time, and intermittent spattering along with increased seismic tremor were observed throughout the night of February 2 and morning of February 3. The appearance of spatter indicates that magma continues to rise in the vent even though the inflation rate is very low. Under the current conditions, a new eruptive episode could begin at any time during the coming week.
(BIVN) – Episode 8 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption appears poised to begin.
Although the start of Episode 8 has not been officially announced by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, sporadic lava fountaining was seen at the caldera vent on Sunday evening and Monday morning.
The spattering was first observed from the north vent at around 7:15 p.m. HST on Sunday night, February 2nd.
The USGS HVO says the spattering increased between 8:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. HST when steam obscured the vent.
Scientists noted that summit inflation “remains at the minimum needed for the start of a new episode.”
All activity associated with the ongoing summit eruption that began in December 2024 remains confined to the summit caldera within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
This story will be updated when the USGS HVO publishes its daily Kīlauea update.
by Big Island Video News7:13 am
on at
STORY SUMMARY
HAWAIʻI VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK - Sporadic fountaining from the north vent began just around 7:15 pm HST on February 2.