Kilauea Alert Lowered to Advisory as Episode 56 Pauses and the Summit Reinflates, With the Next Fountaining Likely More Than a Week Away
The U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said in its daily update on the morning of November 9 that the Halemaʻumaʻu eruption of Kilauea is currently paused, and the volcano alert level has been lowered to Advisory with an aviation color code of Yellow, down from Watch and Orange in the November 6 update.
Episode 56, which just ended, fountained between 12:10 p.m. and 6:01 p.m. on November 5 from the north vent only, with fountains reaching about 660 feet (200 meters), an eruptive plume as high as 18,000 feet (5,500 meters), and roughly 8 million cubic yards (6 million cubic meters) of lava erupted, while tiltmeters recorded 17 microradians of summit deflation.
Since the fountaining stopped, the summit has been reinflating: the Uēkahuna tiltmeter has recovered 7.4 microradians of inflationary tilt, though the trend went relatively flat after midnight on November 9. No earthquakes were located at the summit in the past day, seismicity and deformation in both rift zones remain low, and sulfur dioxide emissions during the pause are typically several thousand tonnes per day, with trade winds carrying volcanic gas southwest toward Kaʻū.
Based on the pattern of previous episodes, the observatory judges the next lava fountaining episode is likely more than a week away. Kilauea has been erupting episodically since December 23, 2024, with fountaining episodes generally lasting less than 12 hours and separated by pauses of two or more weeks. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey)
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Halemaʻumaʻu 火山口在本轮喷发系列第14期（2025年3月20日）的熔岩喷泉，高约160米。Wikimedia Commons 图片（公共领域，美国地质调查局）。 / Photo: Lava fountaining at Halemaʻumaʻu crater during episode 14 of the current eruption series, on March 20, 2025, reaching about 160 meters. Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain, U.S. Geological Survey).
