Four eruptions in four months at Piton de la Fournaise — a new one began on 8 April and ended on 12 April, its shortest episode of 2026. Meanwhile Kīlauea's south vent is glowing and flaming in the repose interval after Episode 44, with Episode 45 forecast for next week. Mayon has passed 100 consecutive days of eruption. And Dukono — a name that rarely makes headlines — produced ash plumes to 4 km this week, worth watching.
Piton de la Fournaise erupted again on 8 April — its fourth eruption of 2026. A new vent breached, lava fountains built a new cone, flows reached the upper Grandes Pentes, and tremor dropped sharply at 2310 on 12 April marking the end. The system has now erupted in January, February–March, March–April, and April again. It is clearly in a sustained active phase.
🇷🇪 Piton de la Fournaise Alert 2-2 · Ended 12 April
A new eruptive phase at Piton de la Fournaise began on 8 April, following a period of low-amplitude continuous volcanic tremor that had been building beneath the ESE flank since 3 April — at the same location as during earlier eruptive phases. Tremor decreased sharply on the evening of 7 April, giving way to gas pistoning. At around 0530 on 8 April tremor amplitude significantly increased, and by 1315 had reached a higher level than prior to the earlier cessation of activity. An OVPF overflight that afternoon confirmed a small lava lake within the main cone.
A new vent breached the cone, allowing lava to move downslope and form a new flow field at the top of the Grandes Pentes. During 10–12 April lava fountains and spatter built up a new cone while the main cone produced significant gas emissions. Lava flow rates reached as high as 15 cubic metres per second. The flow front remained between 1,345 and 1,370 m elevation during 11–12 April without significant advance. At 2310 on 12 April, tremor amplitude dropped sharply — the eruption ended. This is Piton's fourth eruption of 2026, following events in January, the extended February–March eruption, and the March–April resumption. The Alert Level remained at 2.2 throughout.
🇺🇸 Kīlauea Advisory · Yellow
Following Episode 44 on 9 April, Kīlauea entered its inter-episode repose at the new lower alert level of Advisory/Yellow — a procedure HVO formally adopted to better reflect the reduced hazard during pauses. The south vent has been producing visible glow and periods of intense flaming (volcanic gas igniting at the vent surface) overnight since at least 14 April. The UWD tiltmeter has recorded approximately 10.1 microradians of inflationary tilt since the end of Episode 44. HVO's most recent forecast, from the 15 April daily update, indicates Episode 45 is expected between Sunday 19 April and Saturday 25 April.
HVO's radio telemetry monitoring network suffered an outage from 11–14 April, recovered on 14 April. The SDH tiltmeter remains offline pending access across the deep tephra field south of the caldera. Episode 44, which occurred on 9 April, lasted 8.5 hours with fountains peaking at approximately 240 m from the north vent — smaller than Episodes 41–43 but producing significant tephra fallout as far as Hilo due to strong southerly winds.
🇵🇭 Mayon Alert 3 · 100+ days
Mayon has now passed 100 consecutive days of effusive eruption with no meaningful change in status. Per the GVP/Smithsonian WVAR for the week ending 15 April (sourced from PHIVOLCS), the eruption during 8–14 April was characterised by continued lava effusion, pyroclastic density currents, incandescent rockfalls, ash plumes rising 200–1,000 m above the summit, and daily Strombolian activity with short periods of lava fountaining. The seismic network recorded 169–287 daily rockfalls, 0–3 daily PDCs, and 34–254 daily volcanic earthquakes. There were 5–36 periods of volcanic tremor per day, each lasting up to 36 minutes. Daily SO₂ emissions averaged 1,536–2,428 tonnes per day — notably lower than in earlier phases of this eruption, though still substantial. Lava flow lengths remain unchanged at 3.8 km (Basud), 3.2 km (Bonga), and 1.3 km (Mi-isi).
🇮🇩 Dukono Alert 2 · Intensifying
A volcano that rarely features in mainstream coverage, Dukono on Halmahera island in Indonesia has spiked significantly this week. Per the GVP/Smithsonian WVAR for the week ending 8 April (sourced from PVMBG), activity began intensifying from 30 March 2026 following a period of decline since August 2025. From 30 March, 199 explosive events were recorded in a single day. By 3 April dense grey ash plumes were rising 4 km above the crater rim and drifting northwest — a significant increase from typical background levels. During 4–8 April, white-to-grey ash plumes of 700–1,400 m continued being emitted continuously. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a 1–4 scale) with a 4 km exclusion zone around the Malupang Warirang Crater.
📡 What to watch next week
Kīlauea Episode 45 is the headline — the forecast window opens Sunday 19 April. The south vent is producing intense flaming and glow, inflation is building, and HVO's network is back online. Watch for the tiltmeter deflationary spike that signals fountaining is minutes to hours away. Piton de la Fournaise — four eruptions in 2026 and counting. With the system clearly in an active recharge phase, the interval before the next event may be short. Monitor OVPF daily bulletins. Dukono is the new name to track — 4 km ash plumes represent a meaningful step up from background. Any further intensification warrants attention. Slamet (Indonesia) is also quietly developing — crater temperatures hit 411°C on 2 April with white plumes rising 300 m continuously from 3 April. Alert Level 2 in place.