Overview
- The episode began at 8:45 a.m. HST on December 6 and ended abruptly at 8:52 p.m., with about 12.1 hours of near-continuous lava fountaining.
- Within the first hour, three vents erupted simultaneously for a first-in-sequence triple-fountain event, with jets reaching roughly 300–370 meters (1,000–1,200 feet).
- An inclined south-vent fountain buried the V3 streaming camera on Halemaʻumaʻu’s south rim between 9:55 and 9:57 a.m. HST, destroying the instrument while it was live.
- Washington VAAC confirmed ash and sulfur dioxide layers up to about 10.7 km (35,000 feet), and reports noted Pele’s hair and fine tephra reaching nearby communities.
- All activity stayed within Halemaʻumaʻu crater, with USGS indicating no expected impacts to local airports and no observed changes along the rift zones.