Piton de la Fournaise volcano erupts again on Réunion, alert level 2-1 activated

Key facts

• Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion island began a second eruption on 13 February 2026 at around 1:00 PM local time.
• The eruption is confined to the Enclos Fouqué caldera with lava flows descending the Grandes Pentes.
• Authorities activated the ORSEC Alert 2–1 protocol and closed all access to the Enclos Fouqué, including the Pas de Bellecombe-Jacob trail.
• By 9:30 PM on 13 February, the lava front was nearing National Road 2 (RN2) in the Route des Laves area; the road remains open but drivers are advised not to stop.
• Monitoring equipment recorded 551 volcano-tectonic earthquakes at the summit on 13 February 2026.
• GNSS stations detected inflation at both summit and distant locations, indicating magma pressure build-up beneath the surface.
• No significant ash emissions have been reported and no populated areas are currently at risk.
• The previous eruption occurred from 18 January 2026 at 7:42 PM local time, triggered by a seismic crisis that began at 4:34 PM beneath the summit.
• During the January eruption, four fissures opened between 7:45 PM and 8:54 PM along the northern flank of the terminal cone within the Enclos Fouqué.
• Lava discharge rates during the first 24 hours of the January eruption ranged between 2 and 27 cubic metres per second based on satellite thermal data.
• Between 21 and 28 January, monitoring networks recorded an average of about 20 shallow volcano-tectonic earthquakes per day at depths of 1.5–2.2 kilometres beneath the summit.
• On 6 February 2026, a swarm of 343 very small (magnitude <1.0) volcano-tectonic earthquakes occurred between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM beneath the summit, accompanied by slight ground deformation.