New Vents Open at Kilauea Summit as Pressurization Signals Possible Fountaining Episode

Key facts

• New vents opened at the Kilauea summit eruption site in Halemaʻumaʻu on the night of September 14, 2026, without significant seismicity, and continue to feed a small lava flow in the northwest corner of the crater floor.
• The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has Kilauea at Volcano Alert Level WATCH and Aviation Color Code ORANGE as of its September 15, 2026 status report.
• There have been 54 episodes of lava fountaining since the Halemaʻumaʻu summit eruption began in late December 2024, with the eruption starting on December 23, 2024.
• Summit tiltmeters indicated on September 7, 2026 that the Halemaʻumaʻu magma chamber surpassed the pressurization typically required to start a fountaining episode, and nearly 100 earthquakes have been located since then, with the largest being M2.6 on September 11.
• Precursory lava flows have been ongoing for 8 days, the longest such period recorded during this eruption, with over 104 precursory flows from the north vent between September 7–12 and spatter bursts building a spatter cone 36-39 feet tall by September 14.
• The north-south-west vent complex has grown about 500 feet (150 meters) since the eruption began, and the new vents lie about 150 feet (45 meters) below the level of the north vent.
• Possible outcomes include the eruption becoming continuous at the new vents, a return to fountaining, formation of new summit vents, or magma intrusion into the upper Southwest or East Rift Zones; all activity remains confined to the summit within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.