Kīlauea summit eruption: New vents open at Halemaʻumaʻu

New vents have opened at the Kīlauea summit eruption site north of the established vent complex in Halemaʻumaʻu. These fissures began breaking out along the base of the northwest wall, effusing pāhoehoe lava flows onto the crater floor.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that the summit region remains highly pressurized, potentially due to the increased height of the north-south-west vent complex since the eruption began in late December 2024. This pressurization is at a level that could trigger a new episode of high lava fountaining.

Since the start of the Halemaʻumaʻu eruption, there have been 54 episodes of lava fountaining. Historically, these episodes are preceded by summit inflation as magma accumulates in the shallow chamber, followed by rapid deflation during the fountaining event. The current volcano alert level is set to WATCH with an ORANGE aviation color code.