05/06/2022
This week marks the fourth anniversary of the beginning of Kīlauea’s historic 2018 eruption—an appropriate time to reflect on the dynamic landscape and how quickly things can change. : https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/news/volcano-watch-kilaueas-dynamic-landscape-reflections-past-four-years.
In 2018, Kīlauea seemed set in its ways. It had been erupting for 35 years at Puʻuʻōʻō (on the middle East Rift Zone) and the summit had hosted a lava lake for the past decade.
While seismographs, tiltmeters, and various other geophysical equipment were recording the beginning of changes in 2018, the first major visible sign of something out of the ordinary occurred on April 30 with the sudden collapse at Puʻuʻōʻō. Just a few days later, on May 3, seismic activity migrated beneath Leilani Estates and fissures opened. Before May was over, 24 fissures erupted lava that inundated parts of lower Puna until September.
The summit crater of Halemaʻumaʻu also underwent major changes. As lava drained the summit magma reservoir, Halemaʻumaʻu underwent 62 collapses. When the dust settled (and there was a lot of dust) the collapses had lowered the crater floor by more than 500 m (1,600 ft).
The 2018 eruption was followed by a period of quiescence, with a new and interesting change. For the first time since written records began, a water lake formed within Halemaʻumaʻu. Water slowly filled the crater over the next year and a half until it was about 50 m (160 ft) deep.
On December 20, 2020, the water lake boiled away within an hour or two as Halemaʻumaʻu burst into eruption again. Within less than a day the new lava lake was deeper than the water lake had been, and it continued to grow and fill in the crater until May 2021.
But Kīlauea did not stay quiet for long. Halemaʻumaʻu began a new eruption in September 2021—an eruption that continues to this day. These two eruptions have filled Halemaʻumaʻu with over 320 m (1,050 ft) of lava.
While the summit eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu doesn’t currently show signs of stopping, it can be easy to forget that Kīlauea has the potential to change quickly from one day to the next. Just glancing at the volcanic rocks, ash, and vegetation, or lack thereof, on Kīlauea testifies to inevitable events that can sometimes happen with remarkable speed over the course of months, weeks, or even days.
It is not possible to know what exactly lies in store for Kīlauea’s future, though history and modern monitoring tools provide clues. While this volcanic environment can be dangerous, devastating, and tragic to behold, it is also inspiring, breathtaking, and commanding. With every change, we learn something new and hope to continue to increase our understanding of Kīlauea.
Photos: A) Top left, photo of Halemaʻumaʻu before the 2018 collapse events started with the decade-long active lava lake that formed in 2008. B) Top right, photo after the 2018 collapse events had dropped the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu by more than 1,600 ft (500 m) over the course of just 4 months. C) Bottom left, in July 2019 a water lake started to form in the newly deepened Halemaʻumaʻu, and this lake continued to grow over the next year and a half. D) Bottom right, the eruption in December 2020 boiled away the water lake in a single night and continued until May 2021 before another eruption started in September 2021, continuing to the present. All photos are from the .
Volcano Activity Updates
volcano is erupting. Over the past week, lava has continued to erupt from the western vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater. All lava is confined within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Sulfur dioxide emission rates remain elevated and were last measured at approximately 2,600 tonnes per day (t/d) on May 4. Seismicity is elevated but stable, with few earthquakes and ongoing volcanic tremor. Summit tiltmeters show one minor inflation and deflation trend over the past week.
is not erupting. This past week, about 62 small-magnitude earthquakes were recorded below the summit and upper elevation flanks of Mauna Loa—the majority of these occurred at shallow depths less than 15 km (9 mi) below sea level. GPS measurements show low rates of ground deformation over the past week. Gas concentrations and fumarole temperatures at both the summit and at Sulphur Cone on the Southwest Rift Zone have remained stable over the past week.
