(BIVN) – The ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea remains paused, as the Hawaiʻi island volcano builds to its next episode of high lava fountaining.
Each lava fountaining episode has added tephra – the glassy volcanic material produced by such eruptions – to the growing cone, or pu‘u, southwest of the eruptive vents in the caldera.
On Friday, geologists with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory were out surveying the new pʻu, measuring changes in elevation across the new feature. The scientists have been taking measurements for over a year.
In a new batch of photos published on the USGS website, the Observatory explained how geologists have surveyed the elevation “along a transect across the new pu‘u on the western margin of Halema‘uma‘u.”
“These repeat measurements across the same set of points, spaced about 330 feet (100 meters) apart, track the growth and changes of the pu‘u,” the Observatory stated. “On June 5, 2026, the post-episode 48 survey was completed.”
This current eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu, which began in December 2024, now has the most fountaining episodes ever recorded for an episodic fountaining eruption. Episode 48 on June 1, 2026, broke the record, edging out the Pu‘u‘ō‘ō eruption which had 47 fountain episodes.
The Observatory notes that “other eruptions have had additional episodes related to changes in vent activity and location,” so this record “only applies to episodic fountains.”
On Saturday morning, the Observatory reported forecast models indicate that the onset of the next episode, fountaining episode 49, is 7 to 13 days from now and could occur between June 13 and June 19.
