The eruption at Kilauea started again on Monday at 6:41 p.m. — two days after the eruption paused, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. But on Tuesday at 10:47 a.m. the eruption abruptly stopped. 

This marked the seventh episode in the eruption that began on Dec. 23, 2024.

Before episode 7 started, around 1:30 p.m., small, sporadic spatters started emerging from the two fountains inside Halemaumau Crater. These spatters continued to increase in intensity until 6:41 p.m., when sustained fountaining began. 

On Monday night around 7:40 p.m., fountains from the north vent were up to 200 feet high and were feeding multiple lava streams. The flow had covered about 20% of the crater floor. A small fountain was visible in the south vent and there was a small lava flow emerging from the south side of its cone.

The next day, the southern vent stopped erupting at 10:43 a.m., and the north vent shutdown four minutes later.

The current eruption is marked by episodic fountaining, not seen in any of the other Halemaumau eruptions since 2020. Each episode in the eruption that started on Dec. 23, 2024, has continued for 13 hours to 8 days. Episodes have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting less than 24 hours to 12 days.  

Based on the durations of episodes 5 and 6 and the brief pauses that separated them, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory predicted episode 7 would last 10 to 20 hours.

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.

Editor's note: This post has been updated with information from HVO regarding the end up episode 7. (Jan. 28, 2025)