Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Shoots Record 500-Metre Lava Fountain (WATCH)

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted again, shooting lava fountains up to 500 metres high, taller than the Empire State Building. This marks the 35th eruption episode since December 2024, with magma following the same path each time.

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been shooting new fountains of lava from its summit crater, EuroNews reported. The eruptions, which have been taking place at semiregular intervals since late last year, have been delighting residents, visitors and online viewers alike with a fire hose of molten rock.

The latest episode began on Friday and was the volcano's 35th episode since December 2024. Scientists believe they are all part of the same eruption because magma has been following the same pathway to the surface.

500-metre lava fountain

Fountains from the south vent at Kilauea's summit crater soared nearly 500 metres into the air - that's taller than New York's Empire State Building, as per EuroNews.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) shared that these fountains would be “the highest single fountain and highest pair of fountains seen during this eruption.” 

The plume of gas above the fountains extended to over 5,000 metres above ground level, the USGS added.

Most episodes of the eruption since December have continued for around a day or less and have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting at least several days.

Episode 35 of the ongoing Halema`uma`u eruption ended abruptly at 3:32 a.m. HST this morning, October 18, after 7.5 hours of continuous fountaining. Vent areas and lava flows may continue to exhibit slow movement and/or incandescence as they cool and solidify over the coming days. Kilauea summit inflation resumed following the end of episode 35, indicating that another fountaining episode is possible, but likely at least two weeks away.

Seismic tremor increased significantly, and summit tilt switched from inflation to deflation last night at about the same time that sustained fountaining began, as per USGS.

The current eruption has been characterized by episodic lava fountaining not seen in any eruptions since the 1983-86 episodic fountains at the beginning of the Pu`u`o`o eruption, as per USGS.