UPDATE – (7 a.m.) – Episode 24 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 4:28 a.m. HST this morning, June 5. 

“The north vent stopped erupting at approximately 4:08 a.m. HST. The south vent stopped erupting at approximately 4:28 a.m. HST, marking the end of the episode,” the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported in a Volcanic Activity Notice issued at 5:37 a.m. “Lava flows from this episode on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu within the southern part of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) may continue to exhibit slow movement or incandescence as the cool and solidify over the coming days.” 

“The Uēkahuna tiltmeter (UWD) recorded approximately 13 microradians of deflationary tilt during this episode. The end of the eruption was coincident with a rapid change from deflation to inflation at the summit and a decrease in seismic tremor intensity,” the USGS HVO said. 

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

image from USGS webcam on Thursday morning

(BIVN) – High lava fountains erupted from the vents at the Kīlauea volcano summit on Wednesday night, as Episode 24 began at 8:55 p.m. HST. 

A new Volcanic Activity Notice (VAN) and Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) were issued by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at 10:51 p.m. HST, although the Kīlauea Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code remain at WATCH/ORANGE. 

All activity is occurring within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.  

From the USGS VAN:

Episode 24 was preceded by sporadic spatter, gas pistoning, and hydrogen flames that began on the morning of June 3. At approximately 8:55 PM HST, episode 24 began with low dome fountaining accompanied by lava flows onto the crater floor. Small sustained lava fountains, less than about 100 feet (30 meters) high, began erupting from the north vent around 9:15 PM. Activity increased again around 10:10 PM, when fountain heights increased to 325 feet (100 meters) and by 10:40 reached over 980 feet (300 meters). Additionally, the fountain generated a plume that reached 16,500 feet (5,000 meters) above ground level by 10:50 PM and is increasing.

image from USGS webcam on Wednesday night

At a tiltmeter near Uēkahuna (UWD), inflationary tilt reached just over 14 microradians since the end of the last episode; slightly more than the amount of deflationary tilt in episode 23. Seismic tremor began increasing and tilt at UWD switched from inflation to deflation at about 9:00 PM HST, close in time to the beginning of low fountaining.