Photo and Video Chronology —September 17, 2024, Kīlauea middle East Rift Zone eruption
Kīlauea volcano's middle East Rift Zone eruption resumed late on September 16, 2024, and it continues this morning within Nāpau Crater. The eruption is located in a remote and closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
Kīlauea volcano's middle East Rift Zone eruption resumed late on September 16, 2024, and it continues this morning within Nāpau Crater in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted an aerial overflight to document the eruption and assess hazards. The Volcano Alert Level for ground-based hazards remains at WATCH and the Aviation Color Code remains at ORANGE at this time. Rates of seismicity and ground deformation beneath the summit, lower East Rift Zone, and Southwest Rift Zone remain low.
Current activity is restricted to Kīlaueaʻs upper-to-middle East Rift Zone, in a remote and closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Chain of Craters Road, which is closed, is located downslope and downwind of the new fissures. Continued gas emissions from the eruptive fissures may pose a hazard to humans downwind of the eruption site. However, due to the remote location, the eruption does not currently pose an immediate threat to human life or infrastructure.
HVO is continuing to closely monitor the middle East Rift Zone and in contact with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the Hawai‘i County Civil Defense Agency. Temporary closures have been implemented as a result of this eruption; please see the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park website for visitor information: https://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm.
Numerous eruptions took place in Kīlauea's middle East Rift Zone during the 1960s–1970s. Most of these eruptions occurred between Hiʻiaka crater and Puʻuʻōʻō and lasted from less than one day to about two weeks, although there were long-lived eruptions at Maunaulu (1969–1971 and 1972–1974) and Puʻuʻōʻō (1983–2018). A map of past eruptive activity in the upper-to-middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea is available here: https://www.usgs.gov/maps/kilauea-middle-east-rift-zone-reference-map.
For more information about the meaning of volcano alert levels and aviation color codes, see https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanic-alert-levels-characterize-conditions-us-volcanoes.
New webcam on middle East Rift Zone
Live view of Nāpau Crater on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea, view is to the southwest [S2cam]
View the S2cam and an animated 24h gif here: [S2cam] - View of Nāpau Crater on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea, view is to the southwest | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)
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