Kilauea volcano eruption january 2023
© U.S. Geological Survey via APHawaii's Kilauea volcano, looking east from the west rim of the summit caldera, on Thursday, January 5, 2023 in a webcam image provided by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, began erupting again in Hawaii on Thursday, nearly a month after federal officials said activity there had ceased.

The U.S. Geological Survey said webcam images showed lava flow within the Halemaʻumaʻu crater in the volcano's summit caldera.

The agency upgraded the volcano's alert level from watch to warning and said it was evaluating possible hazards. So far the eruption has been contained to the crater, it said.


The volcano, in Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii's Big Island, has been erupting often since 1983.

In 2018, an eruption from fissures in its lower East Rift Zone covered 13 square miles with lava, destroying 700 homes and other buildings.
kilauea volcano
© Terray Sylvester / ReutersLava flows from a fissure on the outskirts of Pahoa, during the eruptions of the Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii, USA, on May 14, 2018.
Most recently, Kilauea erupted between September 2021 and last month.

In November, another eruption on Hawaii's Big Island — from Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano — came after a series of large earthquakes. It was its first eruption in 38 years.

A month later, the USGS's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said Mauna Loa's eruptions had ceased.
Tim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.