Hawaii Reports New Volcanic Eruption

courtesy of usgs MAIN | eTurboNews | eTN
Hawaii volcanic eruption
Avatar of Linda S. Hohnholz
Written by Linda S. Hohnholz

At approximately 3:20 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time (HST) today, Wednesday, September 29, 2021, an eruption began within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Kīlauea’s summit caldera, within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

  1. Fissures have opened within the old lava lake in the crater to the east and are generating lava flows on the lake surface.
  2. Another vent opened at around 4:43 pm today on the west wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
  3. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory raised the alert level from orange to red, meaning the volcano eruption is now under a watch advisory.

Fissures opened to the east of the large island within the lava lake that was active in Halemaʻumaʻu crater from December 2020 until May 2021, and they are generating lava flows on the surface of the older lava lake.

At approximately 4:43 p.m. HST, another vent opened on the west wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory posted a 3:40 p.m. photo of lava in the crater shortly after raising the alert level for the volcano to a watch from an advisory.

usgs2 | eTurboNews | eTN

According to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, this afternoon brought increased ground deformation and seismic activity. The level alert was raised from orange to red (warning) at around 4:00 p.m. Around 17 earthquakes were recorded by the US Geological Survey (USGS) in the magnitude range of 2.5-2.9 during the last 24 hours.

With the eruption being fully contained within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, there are currently no threats to areas where people live. Officials will monitor the activity and potential hazards as the eruption continues.

Hawaii Shira shared on twitter less than a half hour ago: My son said he noticed an increase in sulphur dioxide smell when he went to pick up [his] son at Volcano Charter School this afternoon.

The last time Kilauea erupted was when it began in December 2020. It continued spewing lava until May 2021. That eruption created a new lava lake at the summit of the crater.

During the time that it was last active, Kilauea produced over 41 million cubic meters, or 11 million gallons, of lava during the 157 days it had been continually erupting.

Lava had drained from that same area in 2018 when Kilauea erupted in one of its lower rift zones. That eruption was largest ever recorded so far at the volcano. It destroyed so many homes and displaced thousands of people.

About the author

Avatar of Linda S. Hohnholz

Linda S. Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz has been an editor for eTurboNews for many years. She is in charge of all premium content and press releases.

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