Follow-Up: Kilauea's Episode 56 Ends After Nearly Six Hours of Lava Fountaining, With Fountains Reaching About 200 Meters
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park — Kilauea volcano, in Hawaii County, Hawaii, began episode 56 of its ongoing summit eruption at 12:10 p.m. local time on November 5, and the lava fountaining stopped abruptly at 6:01 p.m. the same day, after nearly six hours. The U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory then issued its end-of-episode notice.
Observatory data show fountains reached about 200 meters (660 feet), with the eruption plume rising to about 5,500 meters (18,000 feet) above sea level, based on National Weather Service radar data. About 6 million cubic meters of lava erupted during the episode, at an average effusion rate of about 200 cubic meters per second and a peak of about 530 cubic meters per second around 2 p.m.; by 4:43 p.m. fountain heights had fallen to about 100 meters.
All vents and lava flows remained confined to Halemaumau crater within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The end-of-episode notice kept Kilauea at Volcano Alert Level WATCH with Aviation Color Code ORANGE, and the observatory said summit fountaining is unlikely in the next several weeks.
Kilauea has been erupting episodically since December 23, 2024; fountaining episodes generally last less than 12 hours and are separated by pauses of two weeks or more. Precursory lava overflow at the north vent on November 2 prompted the observatory to raise the alert level to WATCH and forecast episode 56 for November 4 to 7 — a window the episode met. The previous episode, number 55, took place on October 17.
(Source: U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory)
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：基拉韦厄火山哈雷茂茂火山口内的熔岩喷泉（资料图，2025年3月20日第14次喷发期，与本轮属同一次喷发过程）。照片：美国地质调查局，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A lava fountain inside Kilauea's Halemaumau crater (file photo, episode 14 on March 20, 2025, part of the same ongoing eruption). Photo: U.S. Geological Survey, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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