After roughly 24-hour reactivation, Kilauea eruption pauses again

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - After a brief reactivation on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey announced that the Kilauea eruption has paused again.

Officials said Episode 2 of the summit eruption paused just before 11 a.m. on Christmas Day.

The vigorous fountaining from vents in the southwest corner of Halemamau crater rapidly died down over a few minutes, USGS said.

Scientists said that lava began draining back into the vent at nearly the same time that summit tiltmeters began recording a change from deflation to inflation. Seismic tremor also decreased markedly at the same time.

Officials said the pattern was similar but more abrupt than the onset of the pause on Monday that occurred between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Episode 2 lasted a little over 24 hours, which is about twice the duration of the first eruptive episode.

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Prior summit eruptions have lasted days to weeks and there is a high probability that this eruption will resume if the summit repressurizes over the coming days, USGS said.

HVO is continuing to closely monitor Kilauea and will issue an eruption update Thursday morning unless there are significant changes overnight. HVO remains in close contact with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency.

The Kilauea Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code remain at WATCH/ORANGE. All current and recent activity is within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

USGS said that no changes have been detected in the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

For up-to-date information on Kilauea, click here.

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