On Tuesday, Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano was actively erupting. It hurled lava nearly 330 feet (100 m) into the air from its summit crater. This new eruption is the most recent in a series that began unexpectedly last December 2024. This new phase has been characterized by persistent eruptions since that time. The explosive effusion eruption reignites interest in Kilauea’s tumultuous past littered with violent volcanic behavior. This chronicle is punctuated by notable larger eruptions in the past 30 years.
In February of 1969, Kilauea unleashed its largest eruption in over a hundred years. The volcano exhibited one of the most varied and active catalogs of eruptive behavior for 30 years. Its most recent major eruption concluded in 2018. Most dramatically, in 1983, Kilauea broke through at a lower elevation and started to ooze lava out of a new vent—stationary and steady.
As of Tuesday morning — mid-morning — Kilauea was continuing to erupt vigorously from its north vent in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater. It triggered eruptions from a south vent and a third vent situated between the two. This latest eruption is the 32nd time lava has erupted since December 2024, marking again the constantly changing nature of Kilauea.
“Our job is like being a bunch of ants crawling on an elephant trying to figure out how the elephant works.” – Ken Hon
Aloha, the beautiful and ongoing eruptions are extraordinary! They represent the fourth occurrence in two centuries that Kilauea has belched lava fountains skyward over several episodes. The volcano has an incredible track record of producing beautiful lava flows. Some of its fountains shoot up to 1,000+ feet (300 meters) high!
To predict when and where Kilauea volcano would erupt next, scientists continually monitored Kilauea with a dense sensor array. Now, they can even predict the locations where lava will most likely break through. Usually, they only warn a few days or sometimes even a week in advance. Geologist Steve Lundblad points out that these current eruptions have wider vent openings. This provides more space for molten rock to move and expand under lower pressure.
“We’re still gonna have spectacular eruptions. They’re just going to be wider and not as high.” – Steve Lundblad
Even though the lava is very dramatic, it remains largely contained within the summit crater of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This minimizes the dangers to surrounding communities, protecting them from any risk. Kilauea is located on the Big Island of Hawai’i. It lies roughly 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Honolulu, that state’s largest city, on Oahu.
Most recently, the volcano’s eruptions have turned it into an international sensation, attracting scientists, tourists, and highway workers, which highlighted and emphasized the beauty and fragility of Hawaii’s natural wonders. Kilauea continues to demonstrate its explosive might. In the meantime, researchers are going all out to figure out what’s going on with its activity and dynamic and prismatic forces at play under the surface.