The Current Eruption
Here’s what we know about the current volcanic activity—
Kilauea started erupting again in Halema‘uma‘u Crater on December 23rd, 2024. The 39th eruptive episode began around 8:20 p.m. on December 23rd, and ended just under six hours later at 2:13 a.m. on December 24th. Lava fountains around 1,400 ft. were observed during this latest episode. The ongoing eruption has paused several times since it began last year, and will probably continue to start and stop. The immediate area around the crater is currently closed, but there are numerous places to view it from a distance (including Volcano House). There currently doesn’t seem to be any threat to infrastructure or travel. Each eruption episode has brought fountaining, with the highest over 1,400 ft. high! There is danger of lava bombs from the eruption, but the main hazard are the toxic volcanic gases being released. Be sure to follow instructions from park personnel to stay safe. Note that traffic jams occur regularly when eruptions are happening. Your best bet for navigating is to follow the traffic signs and directions from the rangers.
Here are links to the USGS live webcams of the crater:
[V3cam] Kīlauea volcano, Hawaii (south Halemaʻumaʻu crater) — This camera was destroyed by lava and pumice on December 6th
The view from (usually) quiet, Saddle Road.
Some Background on Recent Eruptions
So we had two volcanoes going off at the same time in late 2022, Kilauea (no surprise there) and Mauna Loa (big surprise there). At the end of November 2022, Mauna Loa began erupting for the first time in nearly 40 years. It lasted 12 days—pretty average for a Mauna Loa eruption. And when it ended, Kilauea stopped its year-long eruption, too. For awhile…
A few more details…
Mauna Loa—the largest subaerial volcano in the world (making up roughly 51% of Big Island’s landmass)—had been rumbling recently, and turns out those rumblings were no bluff. The eruption began in Moku‘aweoweo, the caldera atop Mauna Loa, and shifted to the northeast rift zone. The lava drooled 12 miles down the mountain and shopped less than 2 miles from the highway that goes between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.
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Additional information
Just a bit of history: Mauna Loa has been fairly active in the past. It erupted in 1984 for a little less than a month, but it had a major eruption in 1950 and several smaller events in the years prior to that, including 1949 and 1942. Before that, Mauna Loa’s 1935 eruption threatened parts of Hilo. (The United States Air Force’s 23rd Bomb Squadron was actually deployed to drop clusters of bombs near the 1935 flow in order to divert the lava away from the island’s county seat, making it the first recorded instance of bombs being used against an active lava flow. It was a momentous enough occasion that the 23rd’s patch depicts bombs dropping on an erupting volcano.) In fact, there have been 33 eruptions on Mauna Loa since 1843, so it’s not like Mauna Loa eruptions are unheard of. However, the volcano was fairly quiet following its 1984 eruption until recently, and the new eruption marked its first in nearly 40 years.