During 30 January-5 February HVO reported that the circulating lava lake periodically rose and fell in the deep pit within Kilauea's Halema'uma'u Crater. The plume from the vent continued to deposit variable amounts of ash, spatter, and Pele's hair onto nearby areas. The lake level was 32 m below the Halema'uma'u crater floor on 31 January.

At Pu'u 'O'o Crater, glow emanated from spatter cones on the SE part of the crater floor, from a spatter cone at the NW edge of the floor, and from a perched circulating lava lake on the NE part of the floor. Lava flows were active in a 1-km-wide area on the coastal plain. Web cameras recorded steam plumes from lava sporadically entering the ocean at multiple locations. Lava from the lava lake (perched 5-6 m higher than the crater rim) flowed across the NE flank of Pu'u 'O'o cone to the cone's base and continued to advance over older flows. On 31 January the N spatter cone gushed with lava; the flow quickly banked against the N crater wall, advanced E to the base of the perched pond at the NE edge, and W towards the W crater wall. On 4 February a minor amount of lava flowed out of the SW spatter cone, and a brief but voluminous lava flow gushed out of the NW spatter cone on 5 February.

Geological Summary. Kilauea overlaps the E flank of the massive Mauna Loa shield volcano in the island of Hawaii. Eruptions are prominent in Polynesian legends; written documentation since 1820 records frequent summit and flank lava flow eruptions interspersed with periods of long-term lava lake activity at Halemaumau crater in the summit caldera until 1924. The 3 x 5 km caldera was formed in several stages about 1,500 years ago and during the 18th century; eruptions have also originated from the lengthy East and Southwest rift zones, which extend to the ocean in both directions. About 90% of the surface of the basaltic shield volcano is formed of lava flows less than about 1,100 years old; 70% of the surface is younger than 600 years. The long-term eruption from the East rift zone between 1983 and 2018 produced lava flows covering more than 100 km2, destroyed hundreds of houses, and added new coastline.

Source: US Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)