Eruptions Newsletter #3 for March 21, 2025

This week’s newsletter is a little shorter than usual, mostly because it is spring break. That being said, if you like Hawai’i, it has got that in spades.

Activity News

Lewotobi, Indonesia

As I was about to write this week’s newsletter, I caught news of a fairly large explosive eruption at Lewotobi in Indonesia. The reports I’ve seen list ash plumes reaching 8-10 kilometers (26,000-32,000 feet) with pyroclastic flows as well. The Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center has ash reported as high as 16 kilometers (53,000 feet), which would be quite the blast. The sound of the explosions was heard in cities over 50 kilometers from Lewotobi.

Lewotobi is on the island of Flores and has experienced numerous small eruptions since it came back to like in December 2023. Overall most of its eruptions have been relatively small (VEI 2-3), but an eruption in early November 2024 killed 9 people.

Local authorities are warning residents near Lewotobi of the potential for lahars (volcanic mudflows) as well due to heavy rains forecast for the area. This rain can remobilize the fallen volcanic ash to create the cement-like slurry that flows in a lahar. Almost 60,000 people live within 10 kilometers of Lewotobi and Indonesia officials have restricted access any closer than 8 kilometers due to this activity. Flights were delayed in places like Bali due to the ash plume.

I found this fascinating set of images taken by Apollo mapping that shows the changes at Lewotobi over fall 2025. You can clearly see the twin peaks of the volcano. The uppermost is the source of the current unrest. The ash fall and lava flows flowing down the west (left) side from that vent are pretty obvious in these sequence of images.

One note: be wary of many of the images/videos included in the posts I’ve seen about the eruptions. Many are not Lewotobi or this eruption, but rather old images and video of other volcanoes.

Kīlauea, Hawai’i

Another week, another eruption at the Halema’uma’u Crater. Episode 14 started March 19 after volcanologists at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory noted that signs were primed for a new eruption. Sure enough, lava fountaining resumed around 9:30 am (HST). This episode is producing some spectacular fountains on its second day as this livestream capture shows. Episode 14 was over by 1:49 pm (HST) on the 20th, meaning it was roaring for a little over 24 hours and in that little time, lava flows covered three-quarters of the crater floor.

It is hard to really get a sense of scale for this fountain, so let’s check out this webcam located at the HVO building on the edge of the crater, one of the many webcams pointed at the summit area of the volcano.

Yes, that is the same fountain peaking out over the rim of the crater … but how high is that? Well, I took a rough Google Earth profile from HVO HQ to the vent location. Here’s the elevation change:

From HVO, the source of the lava fountain is roughly 400 feet below the crater rim. So, if we think about that view from HVO and the fact that the fountain is clearly visible rising higher than the rim, I’d guess that the lava fountain is topping out close to 500 feet (or 150 meters). Impressive stuff!

The lava flows from the active vent are still pouring out to fill the crater floor, repairing the damage done during the collapses in the 2018 eruptions. The infrared (heat) images of the crater floor show the lava flows as they move out into flat areas are spread out into a small lava delta.

For good measure, here’s another view of the lava fountaining on March 20. At the top of the fountain you can see the lava bombs produced as the lava “spreads” out in the air. Those bombs are likely tens of centimeters across if not larger.

One interesting aspect of the new Episode 14 eruption is the vent is next to some of the vents that were active earlier — but not the same. You can see the steaming older vent just to the right of the lava fountain. The new lava flows can be see as that black-silver stream heading from the base of the fountain off to the left.

Odds & Ends

As I mentioned in earlier newsletters, the Trump administration plans to end the lease on the building that HVO currently resides as the summit headquarters are renovated. Most of HVO’s computing, modeling and field instrumentation is housed in the Ironworks building in Hilo, but come the end of September, it will off have to be out. Yet, as of today, there is no information of where HVO will be after that.

This seems par for the course for this administration as they cut without considering the consequences. This fiscal chainsaw is also impacting operations at other volcano observatories in the USGS network like those that watch the Cascade Range. The current spending limits of $1 on government credit cards means that scientists and technicians have no real ability to fix broken equipment, install new monitoring equipment or do vital fieldwork.

These budget cuts mean that you might even be able to visit these volcanic vistas this summer as Park and Forest Service work has ground to a halt due to staff cuts and limited ability fund needed repairs. Even the US Geological Survey headquarters in Reston, Virginia might be on the chopping block. Science is apparently not welcome in the Trump administration.

Sounds of the Week

With a bit of downer for our odds & ends, I thought I could end this week’s newsletter with some songs in honor of the start of baseball season. And no, I won’t subject you to noted Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo’s new album. Enjoy!

Weird that the only sports jersey in video for a song sort of about the major leagues is Hakeem Olajuwon, right?

No, this song isn’t about baseball. However, to me, it is inextricably linked to the Red Sox, so in my mind, it’s about baseball. It is also a banger.

I’m not good at this. Another song not really about baseball, but also absolutely about baseball. Of note, “Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness made us smile” is one of my favorite lines in any song ever.

The Baseball Project is exactly that: power pop songs about baseball. However, their pedigree is impeccable, with Mike Mills and Peter Buck (formerly of R.E.M.), Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5), Linda Pitmon (Minus 5, Filthy Friends) and Steve Wynn (himself, Dream Syndicate).

If you listen carefully, Sam & Dave clearly value slugging percentage over on base percentage.

Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Feel free to send me a note or follow me on Bluesky (@erikklemetti.bsky.social).

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