On Monday, October 4, 2021, The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory lowered Kīlauea’s alert level from warning to watch as well as its activation color code from red to orange.  These changes reflect the less-hazardous nature of the ongoing eruption.  The eruption is currently confined to  Halemaʻumaʻu  crater, within Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.  HVO does not see any indication of activity migrating elsewhere on Kīlauea volcano  and expects the eruption to remain confined to  the summit region. Following its eruption on Wednesday, September 29, 2001, HVO  elevated Kīlauea’s volcano alert level to warning and its aviation color code to red to assess the intensity of eruptive activity and identify associated hazards.

It is unclear how long the current eruption will continue. Kīlauea summit eruptions over the past 200 years have lasted from less than a day to more than a decade. This ongoing eruption is similar to the most recent Kīlauea eruption, which was also confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater and generated a lava lake; the most recent eruption lasted approximately five months, from December 2020 to May 2021.

HVO is in constant communication with the National Park Service and Hawai‘i County Civil Defense and other agencies responsible for public safety.

HVO scientists will continue to monitor Kīlauea volcano closely and will issue additional messages as warranted by changing activity. Stay informed about Kīlauea by following volcano updates and tracking current monitoring data on the HVO web page at https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/volcano-updates

Photo credit: USGS