HONOLULU — Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, began erupting in the early hours of June 7, after a three-month pause, displaying spectacular fountains of mesmerizing, glowing lava at a safe distance from people and structures in a national park on the Big Island.
A glow was detected in webcam images from Kilauea’s summit early in the morning, indicating an eruption within the Halemaumau crater in the summit caldera, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.
The observatory said that the images show fissures at the base of the crater floor generating lava flows on the crater floor’s surface.
Before issuing the eruption notice, the observatory said increased earthquake activity and changes in the patterns of ground deformation at the summit started on the night of June 6, indicating the movement of magma in the subsurface.
“We’re not seeing any signs of activity out on the rift zones right now,” Mike Zoeller, a geologist with the observatory, said. “There’s no reason to expect this to transition into a rift eruption that would threaten any communities here on the island with lava flows or anything like that.”
All activity was within a closed area of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
According to park spokesperson, Jessica Ferracane all the lava from the morning of June 7 was confined within the summit caldera.
“So plenty of room for it still to produce more without threatening any homes or infrastructure,” Ferracane said. “So that’s the way we like our eruptions here.”
She added that park officials are bracing for crowds to arrive because visitors can see the eruption from many overlooks.
“Kilauea overlook was spectacular this morning,” she said of the vast lava lake. “It was molten red lava. There’s several areas of pretty robust fountaining. It’s just really, really pretty.”
The lava lake, covering the crater floor over lava that remained from previous eruptions, measured about 371 acres (150 hectares) at about 6 a.m., Zoeller said. It measured about 4,300 feet (1,300 meters) wide.
Soon, word began to get out and parking lots were starting to fill up at the park, Ferracane said.
Since the park is open 24 hours a day, visitors can beat the crowds by visiting between 9 p.m. and sunrise, Ferracane said.
She reminded visitors to stay out of closed areas and remain on marked trails for safety reasons, including avoiding gases from the eruption.
Janice Wei, a volunteer photographer for the park who lives near the volcano, was jolted awake by two small earthquakes. She was also able to see fountains that she estimated to be 150 feet (46 meters) high at around 4:30 a.m. and also saw about 15 fountains that began to die around mid-morning.
The red bursts could be seen on the USGS livestream on the afternoon of June 7.
The volcano’s alert level was raised to warning status and the aviation color code went to red as scientists evaluate the eruption and associated hazards.
Kilauea, Hawaii’s second-largest volcano, erupted from September 2021 until December 2022. For about two weeks last year, Hawaii’s giant volcano, Mauna Loa, also erupted on Hawaii’s Big Island.
After a short pause, Kilauea began erupting again in January 2023. That eruption lasted for 61 days, ending in March.
