Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

December 24, 2024

The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began yesterday, December 23, slowed starting around 3 p.m. HST yesterday. The eruption paused through the night and reactivated this morning, December 24, at several of the vents along the southwest of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor. 

Christmas Eve Kīlauea Eruption Observations

Color photograph of erupting lava fountains within a crater
The eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began yesterday, December 23, slowed starting around 3 p.m. HST yesterday. The eruption paused through the night and reactivated this morning at several of the vents along the southwest of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor. Eruptive activity remains confined to Halemaʻumaʻu and the downdropped block within the caldera and may fluctuate in vigor over the coming days. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.  

 

Glowing red lava fountains are continuing to erupt at Kīlauea summit this Christmas Eve. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists monitored the eruption from the caldera rim, measuring the lava fountain heights at approximately 75 meters (246 feet) during an afternoon monitoring fieldshift. Lava fountaining in the west part of the caldera feeds lava flows that were observed moving east tens of meters (yards) per hour. USGS video by H, Winslow. 
Color photograph of scientist monitoring eruption
USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists used a laser rangefinder to measure the height of the lava fountains erupting in Kaluapele (Kīlauea summit caldera) on December 24. Between 2:30 and 4:15 p.m. HST, the lava fountains were reaching heights of about 75 meters (246 feet). USGS photo by C. Sealing. 
Color photograph of lava fountain
A telephoto view of lava fountains erupting within Kaluapele (Kīlauea summit caldera) the afternoon of December 24. This eruption began on December 23 with vigorous lava and volcanic gas effusion, which decreased throughout the day until the eruption paused around 4:00 p.m. HST. Renewed, low-level eruption of sluggish lava began around 8 a.m. HST this morning, December 24, and around 11:00 a.m. HST, more gas-rich lava began reaching the surface causing fountaining to become more vigorous. Increased fountaining accompanied by increasing tremor and the resumption of summit deflation mark the onset of a second eruptive episode. USGS photo by H. Winslow. 
Color photograph of eruption and eruption plume
The eruption at Kīlauea summit lights up Christmas Eve, as viewed from the overlook at Volcano House within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. A plume of volcanic gas and fine volcanic particles rises above the erupting vents before it is transported downwind, generally in a southwest direction within a closed area of the National Park. USGS photo by H. Winslow. 
color graphic map of recent lava flow coverage within summit caldera
This reference map depicts the new Kīlauea summit eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater on December 23, 2024, constructed using data captured during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight at 9:30 a.m. The eruption started in the early morning with lava fountains on the crater floor and in the western wall, where activity gradually focused as the morning progressed. By the time of the overflight, new lava flows had covered approximately 650 acres (265 hectares) of the crater floor to an average depth of about 10 feet (3 meters). 
Color map of temperature of crater floor with recent lava flows
This thermal map shows lava flows covering the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea.  Fountaining was active in the southwest portion of the caldera, with flows extending east onto the downdropped block. Cooler colors (purple, black) show lower temperatures while hotter colors (orange, yellow) show higher temperatures. USGS map by M. Patrick.

Get Our News

These items are in the RSS feed format (Really Simple Syndication) based on categories such as topics, locations, and more. You can install and RSS reader browser extension, software, or use a third-party service to receive immediate news updates depending on the feed that you have added. If you click the feed links below, they may look strange because they are simply XML code. An RSS reader can easily read this code and push out a notification to you when something new is posted to our site.

Was this page helpful?