Overview
- Episode 38 began at 08:45 HST on December 6 and evolved into an extremely rare triple-vent fountain within 30 minutes.
- Fountains reached 120–150 meters with inclined jets topping 300 meters, and the summit plume rose over 6 kilometers.
- Satellite analyses reported ash and SO2 layers up to about 10.7 kilometers, with additional bands between 4.6–7 kilometers drifting south and east.
- Over 12.1 hours the burst emplaced about 12 million cubic meters of lava, resurfacing roughly half of Halemaʻumaʻu’s floor.
- USGS said the V3 rim camera was buried by tephra around 09:55–09:57 HST; activity stayed in the crater, airports were not expected to be affected, and the alert level remained WATCH/ORANGE.