(BIVN) – Episode 45 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption ended abruptly at 10:01 a.m. HST on April 23. The episode of high lava fountaining lasted for 8.5 hours.

Due to reduced ground and aviation hazards, the USGS lowered the Volcano Alert Level from WATCH to ADVISORY and the Aviation Color Code from ORANGE to YELLOW.

The Ashfall Advisory issued by the National Weather Service for Kaʻū has also been discontinued.

Episode 45 began at 1:34 a.m. n April 23, after two days of precursory activity.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported peak north vent lava fountain heights of approximately 1,000 feet (300 meters) were reached around 3 a.m. HST, along with peak eruptive plume heights of about 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) above sea level at around the same time. Later, the Observatory said the lava fountains have been “wispy” at the top, “making it difficult to consistently measure maximum fountain heights.” The scientists said “more accurate height estimates will be determined in the coming days after analysis of monitoring imagery.”

No significant tephra fallout has been reported at open areas of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park or on county roads. Highway 11 was not closed during the episode.

UPDATE – (11:45 a.m.) – “Earthquake activity during episode 45 was minor, and did not include a repeat of the seismicity observed at the end of episode 44,” the Observatory reported in a later status update. “Levels of seismic tremor rose and fell with fountaining and are now at typical levels for eruption pause.”