Lava fountains over 250 feet high return to Kilauea volcano

COURTESY USGS
This image from a U.S. Geological Survey webcam shows lava fountaining in Halemaumau crater late Monday night.
Kīlauea’s ongoing eruption within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park continued this morning with vigorous lava fountains reaching heights of up to 160 feet from the north vent and 115 feet from the south vent, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The eruption, which began its eighth episode at 9:52 p.m. Monday, has sent lava flows covering roughly half of Halemaumau crater’s floor. It was the eighth time that lava fountains have returned to the summit caldera in less than two months.
Scientists with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the latest episode of sustained lava fountaining began at 9:52 p.m. Monday. It was the eighth time that the on-again, off-again eruption has sent lava into Halemaumau since the current event started on Dec. 23.
“Episode 8 was preceded by small, sporadic spatter fountains that began on Sunday evening, Feb. 2, which began to increase in intensity in the afternoon on Feb. 3 until 9:52 p.m., when sustained fountaining began,” HVO scientists said. “Fountains from the north vent have grown from 50 feet to over 250 feet high in an hour and are feeding multiple lava streams at 10:50 p.m. Active lava flows now cover approximately 15-20% of the crater floor.”
Each episode of Halemaumau lava fountaining since Dec. 23 has continued for 13 hours to 8 days and episodes have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting less than 24 hours to 12 days, geologists said.
Kilauea’s alert level or aviation color code remained at watch and orange, and all recent activity is within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
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