USGS Cameras Capture Kīlauea's Six-Hour Episode 56 Lava Fountains

Hawaii, United States – Lava fountains erupted for six hours from the north vent at the summit of Kīlauea during episode 56 of the volcano's ongoing eruption.

Timelapse footage released by the U.S. Geological Survey, recorded by cameras around Halemaʻumaʻu crater and from the flank of Mauna Loa on Thursday, November 5, shows a fountain of lava rising from the vent, molten flows spreading across the crater floor and a broad volcanic plume drifting away from the summit.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the episode ran from 12:10pm to 6:01pm Hawaiian time, with the fountain reaching up to 660 feet and the plume rising to 18,000 feet above sea level. The agency estimated that about 8 million cubic yards of lava erupted.

The activity was confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. USGS said tephra fell mainly to the southwest in a closed area of the park, and that fine ash and Pele's hair were carried west of the summit along a stretch of Highway 11.