Abstract There are only a few observations published so far that show the initiation of a coronal mass ejection (CME) and illustrate the magnetic changes in the surface origin of a CME. Any attempt to connect a CME with its local solar activities is meaningful. In this paper we present a clear instance of a halo CME initiation. A careful analysis of magnetograms shows that the only obvious magnetic changes in the surface region of the CME is a magnetic flux cancellation underneath a quiescent filament. The early disturbance was seen as the slow upward motion in segments of the quiescent filament. Four hours later, the filament was accelerated to about 50 km s−1 and erupted. While a small part of the material in the filament was ejected into the upper corona, most of the mass was transported to a nearby region. About forty minutes later, the transported mass was also ejected partially to the upper corona. The eruption of the filament triggered a two-ribbon flare, with post-flare loops connecting the flare ribbons. A halo CME, which is inferred to be associated with the eruptive filament, was observed from LASCO/C2 and C3. The halo CME contained two CME events, each event corresponded to a partial mass ejection of the filament. We suggest that the magnetic reconnection at the lower atmosphere is responsible for the filament eruption and the halo CME.

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