Halemaʻumaʻu eruption · episode 51 of 55
Kīlauea episode 51
Episode 51 of Kīlauea's Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 8:30 a.m. HST on July 15, 2026 and ended at 4:46 p.m. HST the same day. USGS gives the duration as 8 hours. HVO's Uēkahuna tiltmeter (UWD) recorded about 14.7 microradians of deflation during the episode. HVO notes: Precursory lava flows from the north and south vents; north vent erupted lava fountain.
Episode 51 at a glance
- Start (HST)
- July 15, 2026, 8:30 a.m.USGS timeline
- End (HST)
- July 15, 2026, 4:46 p.m.USGS timeline
- Duration
- 8 hoursUSGS timeline
- UWD tilt (deflation)
- about 14.7 microradiansHVO notice
- Max fountain height
- about 290 mUSGS timeline
- Lava erupted
- about 5.1 million m³USGS timeline
- Pause that followed
- 13 daysUSGS timeline
In HVO's words
The sentences these figures come from, quoted from USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory notices.
“The Uēkahuna tiltmeter (UWD) recorded about 14.7 microradians of deflationary tilt during episode 51.”
HVO notices about episode 51
- Volcano Activity Notice · Jul 13, 2026, 3:00 p.m. HSTThe Halemaʻumaʻu eruption of Kīlauea volcano is currently paused, current forecast for episode 51 fountaining onset is July 14-16.
- Volcano Activity Notice · Jul 14, 2026, 3:29 p.m. HSTPrecursory low-level eruptive activity before episode 51 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began around 2:51 p.m. HST on July 14. Low level winds out of the NE, higher level winds are variable.
- Volcano Activity Notice · Jul 15, 2026, 9:07 a.m. HSTEpisode 51 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 8:30 a.m. HST on July 15. Communities may be impacted by wind-blown tephra; low level winds are out of the northeast and higher level winds are from the south.
- Volcano Activity Notice · Jul 15, 2026, 10:36 a.m. HSTEpisode 51 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption continues at 10:20 a.m. HST on July 15.
- Volcano Activity Notice · Jul 15, 2026, 5:06 p.m. HSTEpisode 51 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 4:46 p.m. HST on July 15 after 8.1 hours of fountaining. Tephra carried high into the air during fountaining may remain suspended for some time and continue to fall.
- Status Report · Jul 15, 2026, 6:08 p.m. HSTSummary: Episode 51 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 8:30 a.m. HST and ended at 4:46 p.m. HST on July 15, 2026.
Daily updates: USGS Kīlauea volcano updates. Full table: USGS Timeline of Eruptive Episodes.
Times are Hawaiʻi-Aleutian Standard Time (HST). Start and pause times, durations, fountain heights and lava volumes come from the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's Timeline of Eruptive Episodes; tilt figures and episodes not yet in that table are quoted from HVO notices. USGS describes these as unreviewed, preliminary estimates that are subject to revision. Durations for episodes 17 and earlier may include precursory activity, and HVO rounds durations to the nearest hour, half-hour or day. A blank cell means HVO hasn't published that figure in a form we could read; we don't estimate it.
Credit: U.S. Geological Survey. This archive is generated automatically and is not an official USGS product.