Updated

Updated · USGS (.gov) · Aug 11

USGS HVO Spots 3 Pukas in Kīlauea Vent Complex After Episode 52 Forms New Opening

Updated

Updated · USGS (.gov) · Aug 11

USGS HVO Spots 3 Pukas in Kīlauea Vent Complex After Episode 52 Forms New Opening

Q: Why did Kīlauea's newest lava hole suddenly vanish from sight despite glowing ominously just the night before?

It likely did not truly “vanish” at all; the glow seen overnight had faded by daylight because the new puka was in a quiet pause between eruptive episodes, with no exposed lava or hot incandescent surface visible during the Aug. 11 overflight. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the third puka, just west of the south vent and formed after episode 52, had shown glow in webcam images overnight. But when scientists flew low over the vent complex the next day, they saw no lava or incandescence inside it. That points to a short-lived surface glow rather than a sustained open lava pond. The broader monitoring picture supports that explanation. Kīlauea’s summit eruption has been highly episodic since December 2024, with pauses between lava-fountaining bursts. During those pauses, vents can glow intermittently as magma and hot gases sit near the surface, then dim or disappear from view as the molten surface drops deeper, crusts over, or gas-pistoning activity eases. That is why the north vent still showed a small lava pond and the south vent only weak glow, while the newest puka appeared dark in daylight. In other words, the hole had not closed or been lost; it had simply stopped showing visible incandescence at the time of the flight. Subsequent unrest on Aug. 12, including renewed low-level activity ahead of episode 53, suggests the vent system remained active even when that newest puka briefly looked cold.

Q: Could the sudden escalation to an Orange aviation alert signal a much larger eruption brewing beneath Kīlauea's summit?

No. The move to Orange does not, by itself, point to a much larger eruption brewing beneath Kīlauea’s summit. It fits the pattern USGS has repeatedly used during this long-running episodic summit eruption: when low-level precursory activity begins and lava fountaining is likely, HVO raises the volcano to Watch and aviation to Orange. The trigger on Aug. 12 was specific and limited: intermittent lava dome fountaining and short overflows from the north vent beginning around 11:20 a.m. HST, while summit inflation continued. HVO said this activity could last hours to days before episode 53 begins, and that all vents and lava flows remained confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The Aug. 11 overflight also supports that reading. Scientists saw a small lava pond deep in the north vent, weak glow in the south vent, and no visible lava in the third puka. Those are signs of magma near the surface, but during a pause between episodes, not evidence on their own of a major new breakout or a shift into the rift zones. The main reason for Orange is aviation and ash-plume risk. Past episodes have sent plumes to 14,000 to 24,000 feet and produced tephra, Pele’s hair and vog, even while the eruption stayed summit-confined. Unless monitoring shows major changes in seismicity, deformation, or activity outside Halemaʻumaʻu, the alert increase is best understood as warning of another expected fountain episode, not a dramatically larger eruption.

3 articles · Updated · USGS (.gov) · Aug 11

An Aug. 11 USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overflight found three pukas in Kīlauea’s western Halemaʻumaʻu vent complex, including a newly formed third opening west of the south vent.
Episode 52 of lava fountaining created that new puka, but crews saw no lava or incandescence inside it despite overnight webcam glow.
The north vent still contained a small lava pond deep within, while the south vent showed only weak glow during the flight.
The observations add a fresh structural change to the summit eruption area, indicating activity persists even as visible surface lava remains limited in parts of the vent system.