# For volcano watchers - maybe you'll get lucky! {Kilauea may be erupting} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665 "2023-09-05T20:52:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/1 "2023-09-05T20:52:19Z")
Kīlauea Volcano is showing signs of unrest as I write this - the [daily update](https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/volcano-updates) reads, on September 5, 2023: _The seismic and tilt data indicate that Kīlauea’s summit is becoming increasingly pressurized. Similar episodes of earthquake and ground deformation activity occurred in November 2020 and August 2021, prior to eruptions in December 2020 and September 2021. The unrest is currently confined within Kīlauea’s summit region and—if it continues—could escalate to an eruption in the coming days, weeks, or months._ You can watch a livestream [here](https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live). I’m still pissed that I missed the moment it began erupting in January. It was around 2 in the morning and, insomniac that I am, I was awake. And there had been notices from USGS suggesting magma was on the move. But did I think to check the webcam? No!!! This time, I’m looking at the webcam fairly often. Maybe I’ll get lucky and happen to be watching live when it goes off again. Or maybe not - I may miss it, or, as USGS points out, it may not erupt any time soon. But a girl can dream. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/2 "2023-09-05T22:53:00Z")
The watched volcano never boils over. Seriously though, that is _tres cool_. Hope it picks a nice time of night while you’re looking right at it. For folks who (like me) are volcano enthusiasts this is a fun site for pros, not breathless YouTube bros: > **[Global Volcanism Program](https://volcano.si.edu/)** > > The Global Volcanism Program (GVP) seeks better understanding of all volcanoes through documenting their eruptions during the past 12,000 years. And here’s the official folks monitoring Kilauea: **[Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)](https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo)** ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/3 "2023-09-06T09:56:38Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > You can watch a livestream [here](https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live). The feed is down! The link just goes to a series of livestreams and the Kīlauea one, if you click on it, says “livestream not available.” This has happened before - it’ll be back at some point. Meanwhile [there is a still pic updated every 5 minutes](https://www.nps.gov/media/webcam/view.htm?id=C954D561-D173-F216-1F7F97BCB24BB3B1). It’s got a big glowing spot right now (I’m writing this at just before midnight Hawai’i time), but with a still photo in the dark it’s hard to say what it is. Quite possibly just a strong light from some people/headlamps far beyond the crater. Probably that, as it’s not expanding - in fact it’s dimmer in the next pic. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/4 "2023-09-06T10:43:57Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Meanwhile [there is a still pic updated every 5 minutes](https://www.nps.gov/media/webcam/view.htm?id=C954D561-D173-F216-1F7F97BCB24BB3B1). That doesn’t appear to be updating !? Maybe it’s erupted… ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/5 "2023-09-06T13:39:59Z")
It’s a bit confusing - the text to the lower right indicates it updates every 60 seconds - but it appears to be about every 10 minutes these days (I thought it used to be 5, but maybe I remembered incorrectly or maybe they changed it). Anyway, the big bright light disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/6 "2023-09-07T11:09:44Z")
The live feed appears to be back … it’s hard to tell as it’s 01:00 and it looks like an old crt tv static atm ! Or it could be a large lake of bubbling black lava/magma. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/7 "2023-09-07T13:00:53Z")
Madam Pele looks quiet now. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/8 "2023-09-07T13:04:06Z")
I missed the 2018 eruption by a couple of weeks. I was staying on the big island of Hawaii about 2 miles from where the lava river passed through. It would have been cool to have been there, but it probably would have been a logistical nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/9 "2023-09-07T15:29:00Z")
hmmm … 4 1/2 hours later, it still looks exactly the same. I thought it might be a little bit clearer, ok it’s still only 05:25, but sunrise is less than an hour away. Time will tell (It sometimes does). eta: the [other link](https://www.nps.gov/media/webcam/view.htm?id=C954D561-D173-F216-1F7F97BCB24BB3B1) is showing signs of daybreaking. eta again, live link _ **is** _ now showing a slight lightening !! … all looks back to normal. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/10 "2023-09-07T20:18:48Z")
TBH, it’s not very exciting atm. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/11 "2023-09-07T20:26:45Z")
Nope, and it won’t be exciting until it goes off (if it does, which is likely but not guaranteed). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/12 "2023-09-07T20:32:37Z")
At least Kilauea is usually semi-civilized about it, so we might get to see something. It’s always a shame when a webcam only records the first half-second of some eruption someplace before it gets shredded or vaporized or simply launched into near-orbit. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/13 "2023-09-07T22:12:19Z")
It’s interesting, the text in the daily update ([this](https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/volcano-updates) - same as I linked to earlier) has changed since yesterday. Usually the update is almost completely cut-n-paste from previous days, but they have now made it clear that the deflation-inflation and earthquakes are coming from SOUTH of the caldera not within it. So the next eruption might not be within the caldera, like the past few have been. On the one hand, that’s interesting. On the other, it means the webcams may not be ideally placed to catch the activity. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/14 "2023-09-07T22:17:03Z")
For sure they’ll string some up, and launch some drones, once they do have surface activity. We may all miss the opening couple of hours, but odds are we won’t miss the whole show. As long as we’re content with watching non-realtime at least at first. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/15 "2023-09-08T14:50:33Z")
_Something’s_ going on. I see four earthquakes in the last two hours. They’re mostly around the lava flows from 1952-1982. Unfortunately, USGS does not appear to have any cameras nearby. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/16 "2023-09-11T01:25:11Z")
It’s going off! Now is the time to look! Fresh copy of live webcam link: > **[Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii (Halemaʻumaʻu crater)](https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live)** > > Live view of the eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu, from the northwest rim of the caldera, looking east \[V1cam\] =====Kīlauea FAQs: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kila... Very nice! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/17 "2023-09-11T01:53:05Z")
Tres awesome. Thank you!!! Best of all, it’s still daylight there so I can get my bearings before nightfall. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/18 "2023-09-11T08:07:18Z")
👍🔥🔥🔥🔥 ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/19 "2023-09-11T08:26:15Z")
That’s more like it ! thanks ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665/20 "2023-09-11T09:15:50Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > This time, I’m looking at the webcam fairly often. Maybe I’ll get lucky and happen to be watching live when it goes off again. Webcam shmebcam. I’m waiting for Yellowstone to go so I can just look out of my window. (But seriously thanks for the link, that is very cool.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-volcano-watchers-maybe-youll-get-lucky-kilauea-may-be-erupting/989665.md?page=2)