(BIVN) – The pause in the ongoing Kilauea summit eruption continues, although the next episode of activity could begin at any moment.

On Wednesday night, nearly continuous lava spattering and flames were observed at the north vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

“Spatter bursts continue to increase with heights just over 30 feet (10 meters) at 8:30 pm HST,” the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory wrote in a short update. “The flames are likely due to burning of hydrogen gas.”

By morning, the activity at the vent had once again settled down, although occasional spattering could still be seen.

USGS: “This overview photo of western Halema‘uma‘u crater was captured during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring helicopter overflight on Tuesday, April 29. The Kīlauea summit eruption remains paused since the end of episode 18; however, during the overflight, active lava was observed deep within the eruptive vents (upper left), though no flows were active on the crater floor.” (USGS photo by N. Deligne)

On Wednesday, the USGS HVO stated that Episode 19 is likely to start “in the next four days, with the highest probability of beginning” Wednesday evening.

The USGS HVO wrote:

The pattern of inflation and deflation changed during episode 17 and 18 making determining the likely window for the start of episode 19 fountaining more difficult. Calculations assume that the inflation pattern has returned to the long-term modeled level, which is several microradians less than the peak inflation of episode 18. The strong glow from both vents and spattering from the north vent indicate magma is very close to the surface. Current inflation rates indicate that episode 19 is likely to start sometime in the next four days, with the highest probability of beginning this evening if the eruption has returned to modeled behavior. If the summit needs to inflate to the episode 18 maximum, a new episode starting on Thursday or Friday would be more likely at current inflation rates.

The USGS Volcano Alert Level for Kilauea remains at WATCH.