Kīlauea eruption sets new lava fountain record in Hawaii
Kīlauea has set a new record for the number of lava-fountaining episodes in a single eruption, after its latest burst sent lava up to 650 feet into the air and produced ashfall in parts of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The latest episode ended at 1:37 p.m. local time on Monday after about 9 hours of lava fountaining at the summit of Kīlauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
USGS said the eruption has now produced 48 lava-fountaining episodes, surpassing the 47 episodes recorded during the opening years of the Puʻuʻōʻō eruption from 1983 to 1986. That eruption later continued for decades, but the early sequence had stood as Kīlauea’s record for fountaining episodes in a single eruption.
Only the north vent produced a lava fountain during Monday’s episode, reaching about 650 feet (200 meters), while lava had flowed from the south vent about 95 times in the days before the episode. USGS said that pattern has continued through several recent episodes.
An estimated 7.3 million cubic yards (5.6 million cubic meters) of lava spilled across Halemaʻumaʻu, the crater within Kīlauea’s summit caldera.
The eruption plume rose to about 24,000 feet (7,300 meters) above sea level. Winds pushed tephra, or volcanic fragments, north and east of the caldera, including to overlooks in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, a stretch of Highway 11, Volcano village, Mauna Loa Estates and Ohia Estates.
The National Weather Service issued an ashfall advisory for areas downwind during the episode. USGS kept the advisory level at WATCH/ORANGE while the fountaining was underway because the fallout was not widespread and did not last long.
After the episode ended, USGS lowered the alert level to ADVISORY/YELLOW, meaning activity has decreased significantly but the volcano is still being monitored for another increase.
USGS said inflation in the summit region since the end of episode 48 indicates another lava-fountaining episode is possible, but more data is needed before scientists can forecast episode 49. Any new episode would extend the record set Monday.
Kīlauea eruption episode 48 summary – a historic new record for Kīlauea!
Episode 48 of the Kīlauea summit eruption in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park stopped at 1:37 pm HST June 1 after 9 hours of lava fountaining. This eruption has now surpassed the number of fountaining… pic.twitter.com/2UxGDJeF8z
— USGS Volcanoes
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
