Hawaiian Volcano Update: Waiting for Kīlauea Summit Eruption’s Episode 31 - August 14, 2025
In the week since Kīlauea’s 30th episode of its ongoing summit eruption, the volcano has been recharging with magma and building pressure underground once again, continuing its gas piston cycles out of direct sight but detected by monitoring instruments. Glow from the vents and fresh lava diminished quickly after the most recent episode, but returned weakly and intermittently at the south vent within the last two nights, with the north vent activity presumably obscured by a shallow blockage. Degassing continues from these main vents, with the episode 30 fissure line showing no sign of life since its brief 3 hours of glory. The rate of volcanic inflation has slowed, delaying the expected timeframe for episode 31 to between August 16 and August 21 according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. “Periods of no inflation [and deflation], as seen prior to episode 30, cannot be forecast and will delay the onset of the next episode.”
Vog and tephra remain the most common hazards for island residents, and the usual precautions and preparations apply, especially for those with respiratory sensitivities – more information at https://vog.ivhhn.org/. All eruptive activity has been confined to Kīlauea’s summit caldera within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, with no increased lava threat to people. There continue to be no significant changes on either of Kīlauea’s rift zones.
Maunaloa continues to inflate quietly its established post-eruption pattern, with only minor or localized adjustments evident on monitoring instruments. Recent fieldwork around Maunaloa summit repaired existing webcams and equipment while also installing a new thermal camera focused on the south part of Maunaloa summit and the upper Southwest Rift Zone, looking west-southwest across South Pit. As usual, we summarize the monitoring signals, imagery, and reports available courtesy of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, annotating the presentation on screen as we go and discussing live viewer questions.
As a bonus this week, we will look at some of the fake AI-generated videos that circulated during the July 29th, M8.8 Kamchatka earthquake. Social media has seen more and more AI-generated natural disaster short videos at an ever-increasing rate. Fake tsunami videos and misinterpreted maps showing widespread evacuation zones were prominent on social media.
