(BIVN) – The ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea remains paused, but with another episode of lava fountaining expected, scientists are making a change to its public notification procedure.

On Thursday, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) announced:

Effective May 30, 2025, HVO will start to issue a paired “Volcano Activity Notice (VAN)” and “Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA)” to announce the beginning and end of sustained fountaining episodes, as well as the onset of low-level activity precursory activity when possible, with NO CHANGE IN VOLCANO ALERT LEVEL or AVIATION COLOR CODE. HVO previously announced the beginning and end of eruptive episodes using Status Report notifications.

Visit the Volcano Notification Service website to check your volcano notification subscriptions: Volcano Notification Service (VNS).

The transition from Status Reports to VAN+VONA notifications is being made to more effectively communicate the presence or forecasted presence of volcanic hazards, especially airborne hazards associated with lava fountaining, such as volcanic gas emissions and tephra, that can impact Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, nearby communities, and the aviation sector depending on wind conditions.

The information HVO provides will not change. Only the notification type will change.

USGS: “Another view of the complex lava fountaining geometry during episode 23 at the summit of Kīlauea on May 25. The tall and low fountains on the right originate from the south vent, while the wider fountain on the left comes from the north vent, whose cone rim is visible at the bottom of the photo.” (USGS photo by M. Patrick)

Kīlauea’s current summit eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu crater began on December 23, 2024. As of May 28, 2025, there have been 23 lava fountaining episodes separated by pauses in activity. Patterns in ongoing monitoring data suggest that future lava fountaining episodes can be expected.

Each of the previous fountaining episodes lasted from a few hours to over a week and have 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. Lava fountains have reached as high as 350 meters (1,150 feet).

All eruptive activity has been confined to Kaluapele (Kīlauea’s summit caldera) within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Current hazards include volcanic gas emissions and windblown volcanic glass (Pele’s hair) and other tephra that have impacted Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and nearby communities.

HVO issues volcano notifications to provide relevant and up-to-date information about the status of the ongoing Halema’uma’u eruption and associated hazards. Volcano notifications are issued using the Hazard Notification System (HANS).