The Kilauea volcano on the Big Island in Hawaii has started erupting again with large lava fountains. The eruption was downgraded just one day after the volcano began erupting again, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The last time Kilauea erupted was in June of this year. For several weeks, the volcano was displaying fountains of red lava without threatening any communities or structures. Crowds flocked to the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which offered safe views of the lava, according to a report by the Associated Press. 

The current eruption is confined to the Kilauea caldera within the park. The observatory said it “does not see any indication of activity migrating elsewhere on Kilauea volcano and expects the eruption to remain confined to the summit region.” Mike Zoeller, a geologist with the observatory, said by email Monday that the eruption “represents a continuation of longer-term unrest at the Kilauea summit that dates back to late 2020, but it does not herald any heightened unrest beyond the levels that have prevailed since then.”

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Kilauea, Hawaii’s second-largest volcano, erupted from September 2021 until last December. In 2018, a Kilauea eruption destroyed more than 700 homes.

Kīlauea is an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. Located along the southeastern shore of Hawai’i Island, the volcano is between 210,000 and 280,000 years old and emerged above sea level about 100,000 years ago. –Wikipedia

According to Big Island Video News, scientists say the eruption was preceded by a period of strong seismicity and rapid uplift of the summit. Webcams captured the opening moments of the event, as several fissures began generating lava flows on the surface of the crater floor. The United States Geological Survey has elevated the volcano alert level to WARNING, and the aviation color code to RED, as scientists work to evaluate the eruption and associated hazards. It has since been downgraded as there are no communities threatened at this time.