Kilauea Blasts 720-Foot Lava Fountain After Record-Long Pause

Kilauea volcano shot a fountain of lava 720 feet into the air in its 55th eruptive episode, ending the longest and most complex pause since the current eruption began in December 2024.

Timelapse footage from U.S. Geological Survey webcams on the rim of Halemaumau crater and on the flank of neighboring Mauna Loa shows six hours of fountaining from the north vent on October 17, while a dawn video by USGS geologist L. Gallant captures the towering eruptive plume rising over the fountain.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the episode began at 3:19 a.m. local time and ended at 9:03 a.m. Fountains peaked at 720 feet (220 meters) between about 4:50 and 5:10 a.m., when the plume of gas and volcanic fragments reached around 25,000 feet above sea level. About 9 million cubic yards of lava erupted, covering about 75% of the crater floor.

Precursory lava flows had begun on September 7, 39 days before the fountaining, and the pause included new vents opening on the crater’s west side and an underground intrusion of magma at the start of October. The eruption remains confined to a closed area of the national park, but the observatory warned that fine ash and strands of volcanic glass known as Pele’s hair could fall on communities downwind to the southwest.