Episode 43 of the Kīlauea eruption at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, which began at 9:17 a.m. on March 10, saw a new record as lava fountains from the south vent reach 1770 feet high. The episode lasted nine hours and caused large amounts of tephra to fall on visitor overlooks and nearby communities.
Most of the fallout accumulated at the Uēkahuna overlook and Kilauea Military Camp in the park, as well as portions of Highway 11 and the Volcano Golf Course community. For safety, part of Highway 11 and Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park were temporarily closed to allow for tephra cleanup.
Lighter tephra was reported across other parts of the Volcano Golf Course community, as well as Volcano Village and Mauna Loa Estates, which received sparser fallout ranging up to lapilli in size (larger than 1/16th inches or 2 mm). More distant communities reported only ash (less than 1/6 inch or 2 mm in size) and Pele’s hair, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
More than 200 tephra fall reports were submitted via a “Is Tephra Falling?” webtool, with the first coming in around 10:30 a.m. from areas within the park and communities surrounding Kīlauea summit.
Tephra fall raises concerns for residents who rely on rooftop rainwater catchment systems. One of the main concerns is fluoride, which can coat tephra particles and then dissolve into water. Testing found that fluoride in catchment tank water after episode 41 ranged from 0.06 to 0.3 parts per million (ppm), well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limit of 4.0 ppm for public water systems.
Runoff collected from roofs during the first rainfall after the tephra fell was higher: 7–10 ppm from roofs that had not been cleared of tephra, and about 1.5 ppm from a roof that had been cleaned. The lower level from the cleaned roof demonstrates how cleaning tephra can meaningfully reduce contamination.
Other potential contaminants associated with volcanic ash, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, and lead, were too low to detect. In most cases, water affected by ash is likely to taste unpleasant or look discolored before contaminants reach levels of health concern.
Kīlauea has been erupting episodically within the summit caldera since December 23, 2024. Summit region inflation suggests that episode 44 could begin between March 28 and April 14.
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