The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) reported that incandescence and low-level spattering from two vents located at the SW margin of Halema’uma’u Crater within Kilauea’s Kaluapele summit caldera were visible during 8-14 January. Incandescence at the craters was visible during 8-10 January. An automatic laser rangefinder, pointing at an area of the crater floor from a few hundred meters N of the vents, measured about 4 m of subsidence during the first few days after fountaining stopped on 3 January, and since then the level of the floor has mostly remained stable. Monitoring data showed that the summit was slowly inflating, indicating that magma was accumulating below the summit area.

During an overflight on 10 January scientists observed active but slow-moving lava within the vents just a few meters below the crater floor. After sunset on 11 January very minor spattering within the N eruptive vent was visible in livestream camera views. The vigor of the spattering was variable through the night with the peak phase occurring just before 0400 on 12 January. Spatter was ejected no higher than 5-20 m and remained within the vent. Intermittent spattering continued during the morning but was then obscured by daylight. Later that evening visitors to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park reported seeing low-level spattering at the N vent. Spattering was not discernible in the webcam feed, so the spatter was likely not ejected more than 5 m and remained in the vent. Incandescence was visible from both vents during the morning of 13 January; it was unclear if spattering continued. Three periods of localized crater floor subsidence, each lasting 60-90 minutes, were recorded by laser rangefinder at 0745, 1345, and 1730, and were followed by a refilling of magma beneath the crust. Incandescence from the N vent was visible in webcam images overnight during 13-14 January. The Volcano Alert Level remained at Watch (the third level on a four-level scale) and the Aviation Color Code remained at Orange (the third color on a four-color scale).

Geological Summary. Kilauea overlaps the E flank of the massive Mauna Loa shield volcano in the island of Hawaii. Eruptions are prominent in Polynesian legends; written documentation since 1820 records frequent summit and flank lava flow eruptions interspersed with periods of long-term lava lake activity at Halemaumau crater in the summit caldera until 1924. The 3 x 5 km caldera was formed in several stages about 1,500 years ago and during the 18th century; eruptions have also originated from the lengthy East and Southwest rift zones, which extend to the ocean in both directions. About 90% of the surface of the basaltic shield volcano is formed of lava flows less than about 1,100 years old; 70% of the surface is younger than 600 years. The long-term eruption from the East rift zone between 1983 and 2018 produced lava flows covering more than 100 km2, destroyed hundreds of houses, and added new coastline.

Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)