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The eruption of Kilauea—one of the most active and destructive volcanoes in Hawaii—is being captured on webcams set up by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The volcano began erupting just after 4:30 p.m. on January 5, the USGS said in an update. So far, the eruption is confined to Kīlauea's summit region, and it isn't threatening any nearby communities.
Kilauea has been erupting regularly since 1983. Last month, it stopped erupting for the first time since September 2021. But its quiet period was short-lived.
On January 5, earthquakes once again picked up around the volcano, and an eruption began shortly thereafter.
Rebecca Williams, volcanologist and Earth scientist at the University of Hull in the U.K., told Newsweek: "Kilauea is back in action! Actively erupting is really the norm for Kilauea. It's one of the most active volcanoes on Earth and has been erupting almost continuously since 1983. The eruption currently is a summit eruption and is confined to the caldera (depression formed when a volcano erupts), which again is fairly normal."
Webcams are set up to view many different angles of the volcano. One webcam, set up from the west rim of the volcano's summit caldera, captured the hours leading up to the eruption.
On January 5, the crater seemed relatively quiet, with smoke spewing from its vents. Then at 6 p.m., the crater was suddenly aglow with lava, which continued spewing from the crater into the night.
A thermal camera is also set up at Halemaʻumaʻu, recording heat rather than light. This allows officials to get better views of the eruption through the volcanic gas.
All of the webcams can be reached here.
Scientists have observed multiple lava foundation bursts since the eruption began. Some have reached 164 feet in height.
So far, the main hazard remains the high levels of volcanic gas spewing from the crater, rather than lava flows. As a result, a nearby area of the Hawaii Volcanoes National park has been closed.
The eruption comes just over a month after the eruption of Mauna Loa, another Hawaiian volcano. Mauna Loa is the biggest volcano on earth and hadn't erupted since 1984. The eruption didn't threaten any downslope communities and has now gone quiet.
These two eruptions aren't linked to each other, the USGS said in an update.
Kilauea is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in Hawaii. In 2018, it underwent a particularly destructive eruption that forever changed the island.
The volcano spewed large lava flows throughout the Puna District, which destroyed over 700 homes from May through August.
The summit area of the national park was also drastically changed as the volcano emitted tens of thousands of earthquakes.
This eruption was particularly unusual, and most of the volcano's regular eruptions remained contained to the crater.
Scientists from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory said in an update that they will continue to monitor the ongoing eruption very closely.
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Update 01/06/23, 5:29 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a video.
About the writer
Robyn White is a Newsweek Nature Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on wildlife, science and the ... Read more