The eruption at Kilauea started again on Tuesday at 10:16 a.m. — one week after it paused, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. But on Wednesday at 8:43 a.m., the eruption stopped.

This 22.5 hour period marked the ninth episode in the eruption that began on Dec. 23, 2024.

Before episode 9 started, sporadic spatter started emerging on Monday morning from the two fountains inside Halemaumau Crater. These spatters continued to increase in intensity overnight. 

By 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, fountains from the north vent reached heights up to 330 feet and covered about a quarter of the Halemaumau crater floor. The south vent started emitting lava around 10:50 a.m.

Episode 9 lava flows covered about 50-60% of Halemaumau floor. On Wednesday night, several lava flows continued to slowly flow on the floor of Halemaumau and other incandescent areas remained visible on the crater floor as the lava continued to cool. The north vent continued to degas and glowed faintly at night, indicating magma remains at relatively shallow levels in the vent, according to HVO. 

The rapid change from deflation to inflation at the same time the eruption paused on Wednesday, along with the visible glow from the vent on Wednesday night, suggests another eruptive episode will start between Saturday and Tuesday.

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.  

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 of episode 9. (Feb. 14, 2025)