This photograph, taken at approximately 4:00 a.m. HST from the Volcano House overlook in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, shows the new eruption within Kaluapele (the summit caldera). The eruption started this morning at 2:20 a.m HST, following a brief but intense increase in earthquake activity and ground deformation patterns approximately a half an hour before the eruption started. USGS photo by P. Dotray.

(BIVN) – A new eruption began at the summit of Kīlauea volcano within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, early Monday morning.

Currently, all activity is confined to the summit caldera. Scientists say the eruption has stabilized within the crater and there are no immediate threats to infrastructure

The USGS Alert Level for the volcano was raised to WARNING, then down to WATCH, and the Aviation Color Code was raised to RED, then settled at ORANGE.

From the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory:

The eruption began at approximately 2:20 a.m., and vents are continuing to erupt on the floor of the southwest part of the summit caldera. The primary hazard of concern at this time is high levels of volcanic gas which can have far-reaching effects down-wind (generally southwest) of the summit. The plume of volcanic gas and fine volcanic particles is reaching elevations of 6,000-8,000 feet above sea level (2,000-4,000 feet above ground level) and winds are transporting it to the southwest, within the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

At 4:30 a.m., lava fountains were observed with heights up to 80 meters (262 feet). Molten material, including lava bombs, is being ejected from the vents on the caldera floor up onto the west caldera rim, within the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The volcanic gas and ejecta hazards west of the erupting vents stress the hazardous nature of this closed area of Kīlauea’s summit. By 5:30 a.m., lava covered an estimated area of 400 acres of the caldera floor.

Another view of the new eruption within the summit caldera of Kīlauea, Kaluapele, that began this morning, December 23, 2024, at approximately 2:20 a.m. HST. Lava is erupting from vents on the west part of the caldera wall, feeding lava flows that cover the area of Halemaʻumaʻu crater (with an approximate diameter of 1 kilometer or 0.75 miles). USGS photo by M. Zoeller.

There was a sudden spike in earthquakes and inflation at the summit in the half hour before the eruption. Up until the eruption began, the USGS Alert Level for Kīlauea was at ADVISORY. In the days before the eruption, scientists had resumed providing daily updates on the volcano due to a general increase in earthquakes and ground deformation, but an eruption did not appear imminent.

“The onset of this was kind of rapid, we had normal background activity for most of the night,” said HVO Scientists-in-Charge Ken Hon. “At about 1:30 (a.m.) the seismicity really picked up, this morning, and by 2 a.m. we could see that we were measuring seismicity related to a crack that was being forced open by magma as it moved towards the surface beneath Halemaʻumaʻu.”

“This is one of the shorter lead times that we’ve had for an eruption,” Hon said. “All of these near the summit, the lead time is very short because the magma chamber is only 1 or 2 kilometers below the surface. So, less than a mile below the surface of the volcano. And it doesn’t take very long for those cracks to propagate and open up to the surface and let magma out.”

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is open to the public. A few days prior to the start of the eruption, the National Park Service was already warning visitors of an influx of crowds and traffic in the park due to the holiday season, as well as a two-year construction project that is underway in the park.

The National Weather Service also issued an advisory, saying very light ashfall is expected near Kīlauea volcano through at least 6 p.m. HST.