The 2018 Eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii: This is How it Happened
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory recently released an excellent overview of the 2018 eruption of Kilauea that explains how it happened and shows the key events during the timeline of this eruption. This video is free to be publicly shared and therefore we wanted to share this with you.
We were on the Big Island Hawaii several times during the 2008-2018 eruption at the summit of Kilauea and the 1983-2018 eruption of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. We were also in Hawaii immediately after the 2018 eruption ended. We appreciate the splendor and beauty of Kilauea and always enjoy hiking in and around the volcanoes on Hawaii, especially when they are erupting with fresh lava to see. This is a truly unique experience.
While there are no volcanoes presently erupting on the Big Island of Hawaii, it is only a matter of time before Kilauea or Mauna Loa become active again.
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This video finally gave me a full picture of what happened.
I lived between fissure 8&9 . Most beautiful place you could live. Kapoho was like a dream. Glad I got to enjoy every inch of it . Aloha
That was an incredible place to live.
working on a geography project on natural disasters.. this video literally saved my butt
It's now over 4 years since the eruption, nearing the end of 2022. The eruption has resumed at the Halemau'mau crater. It's been active for over a year now, maybe year and half. Fortunately, so far it is contained within the crater pool up at the Kilauea summit.
Thanks for sharing the summary here for others to read. This latest eruption has been a beautiful one to view at the summit. Mauna Loa also seems to be moving into a more active phase. It remains to be seen if this will involve a surface eruption.
Thanks for the great video my friend
We just visited the Volcano National Park, Fissure8 viewing spot, Hot Foot Photography (owner’s house destroyed in 2010 eruption, and rebuilt on the same land, sharing first-hand photos and videos with visitors). Your video gives me a full picture of 2018 eruption event. There’s one small thing I wanted to add. The many small earthquakes in April and May built up and released a big 6.9 magnitude earthquake on May 4, 2018, which contributed to the start of fissure 8. ❤
I appreciate your contribution here. Sounds like a great adventure you had!
We just visited this too and did a tour. Did you do the tour with Stacy? If so, what an amazing tour…I was in aw of what I saw and the story of the eruption and its affects.
I still can’t believe I was able to actually walk next to Fissure 8 and see it all!
That’s great that you got close to Fissure 8. Pretty incredible isn’t it? The size and scope of this cannot be truly appreciated until you see it in person.
So what caused the lava to move from the summit to the Lower East Rift Zone? Was there simply too much for the craters to handle?
That’s a great question. The prevailing theory seems to be that the weight of the molten lava combined with the crater collapses blocked the lava from reaching the surface at the Kilauea Caldera and at Pu‘U ‘Ō‘Ō which then opened the channel wide for the lava to flow down into the East Rift Zone where it then burst to the surface via multiple fissures which then ended at fissure 8. A truly fascinating eruption.
The 2018 eruption was initiated by a magma surge in the central rift zone which includes Halemaumau Crater. The inflation around Halmaumau was measured at 10 feet and lava was overflowing onto the crater floor. Then the surge ruptured the Koe Fault allowing magma to flow into the lower east rift zone and exit through fissures in Leilani Estates. It is believed that the eruption in Leilani Estates drained the entire magma reservoir by about 300 feet so that's why Kilauea was quiet for about 2 years.
@@kansasthunderman1 The lava lake is ending so the summit eruption could end by June however a new eruptive period likely began
I know this is two years old, but I wanted to give you an updated answer. Recent research points to incredible hydraulic pressure opening up the lower portion of the ERZ. The eruption occurred about 15 days after Hawaii received 50" of rain in one day.
Ironically, as I post this, Hawaii is getting hit with a Kona Low, and Kilauea is getting close to having its fourth eruption this year. There has been increasing numbers of earthquakes in the upper ERZ, indicating that it may be trying to reactivate.
@moonflow23 Thanks for sharing!
That was fascinating! I can't even imagine the terror or all of a sudden having a fissure open up in your backyard.
Absolutely, that would be rather terrifying. It was quite an eruption with a lot of phases.
So sad people lost their beautiful homes. The loss of Green Lake was heartbreaking.
Yes, this eruption event was quite destructive.
Fantastic Video!!! Thanks
You’re welcome! Kilauea is such an exciting volcano to track and this newest eruption is bound to be another fun one to watch as it progresses.
I was just in Hawaii visiting for first time. I got up close to the Halemaʻumaʻu crater, very close. I walked down the closed Crater Rim Dr till it literally ended at a cliff. I saw the lava bubbling up in fountains from that spot. It was quite the view. Also checked out the neighborhood that got devastated, can't believe people still live there. They have to know there will be another eruption event there sometime. It's the path of least resistance for more lava to flow.
I’m glad you got to see each of these places in person and up-close. It’s quite incredible to see.
I remembered seeing a video on 2020 about a lake in the caldera. I always love geographical phenomenons so I wanted to see if the lake was still growing, only to find that the lake is gone lol. Down the rabbit hole I went to see what happened and now on this video ......thank you it was very informative. Love from 🇨🇦
It is quite fascinating to follow the progress of Kilauea. Thank you for your feedback!
At the time I was living in Pepeekeo, about 40 miles north of the Volcano, Im so glad I left the island the Fall of 2018, I thought it to be the smart thing to do.
Wow!
I certainly know that a friend of mine would enjoy this. Though he'd be disheartened to know Kīlauea's majestic fury ended three years ago, summits, fissures, and all. If I'm not mistaken, he was there for his USGS Boot Camp Survey to be a volcanologist, back when Kīlauea was still quite active.
That’s neat. Kilauea was erupting again from December 2020 into this year but that eruption was confined to the summit and the Kilauea Caldera.
i remember on the news qwhen i heard about this, its so cool how the caldera expanded slowly like that
It really is quite fascinating. Love watching what Kilauea does and what comes next each step of the way.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
@@GreatDayForAHike This helped a lot with my assignments :)
Came here from my science class because I wasn’t paying attention 😛
Can anyone explain why did the caldera floor collapse pls and ty
This collapse happened mainly because the magma drained from the summit, including from underneath the caldera floor. The floor then went through a series of collapses until it re-stabilized at a much lower level. The magma that drained off from the summit flowed underground to the east/southeast and then erupted in the lower east rift zone.
It’s likely that something within the massive magma chamber under Kilauea changed allowing the fresh magma supply to flow back to the lower east rift zone and not to the surface at the caldera during this eruption.
Would this have been the lava opening into and draining down a previously extinct tube or crack, draining from the mountain and pushing free from the next weakest link?
Yes, I believe the lava flowed down through some previous openings, chambers, and tubes. It likely also made plenty of new openings. Also, the Lower East Rift Zone fault is essentially the path of least resistance for this lava to burst to the surface.
I have him saying Pu u Ö ö as my sms signal
😂
I wonder if Hawaii has a plan in place if one of the volcanos does a full on collapse that would make it so people have to evacuate the whole island. The depth of that collapse, and the ground water coming up to make that lake was pretty telling on have much lava can make a cavity under island that can suddenly empty. Fissures opening up that long of space, towards direction of ocean like that, and the weight of the lava pouring onto one side constantly towards the oceanside can't last long to gravity.
That’s a great question and quite a scenario to consider. There is a quadrant of the Big Island (Kohala region) where there is high ground relative to low ground that would probably be a safe place to evacuate in such a situation temporarily.
Mauna Loa seems to have a solid support and it's very doubtful that the entire island of Hawaii would collapse like Yellowstone Caldera.
beautifully natural volcano and melty thicky liquid lava on the earth...
keep going flow / pour melty thicky liquid lava out from the volcano anyday anytime
So happy I don’t live in a place that has volcanoes earthquakes and tsunami’s… I love Ohio… ❤
Next time when u write April 30 please add the year it would be more helpful
Certainly
I actually feel good in a KILT fresh air, not a warm stagnant pool.
Hawaii does have a good breeze near the oceans most of the time. However, on the days with it a breeze on the tropical sides of the islands it can get pretty steamy.
🌋🗺🏔🔥
Kilauea has come alive once again.
This eruption destroyed the suburb that had over million dollar homes
...lol
Yes, this eruption was truly destructive in the Lelani Estates region downslope and along the East Rift Zone. I believe more than 700 homes destroyed.
Don't live on volcano 🌋 if u do your house 🏘️ may get on fire so don't b sad move to Britain no volcanos in Britain and lots of jobs