Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Photo and Video Chronology – Kīlauea – March 8, 2021

By Kīlauea March 8, 2021

Kīlauea's summit eruption continues on the Island of Hawai‘i; the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u erupts lava into the lava lake. Gas emissions and seismic activity at the summit remain elevated. HVO field crews—equipped with specialized safety gear and PPE—monitor the current eruption from within the closed area of Hawai&lsq

HVO scientists collect detailed data to assess hazards and understand how the eruption is evolving at Kīlauea's summit, all of which are shared with the National Park Service and emergency managers. Access to this hazardous area is by permission from, and in coordination with, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

 

March 5, 2021 - Halema‘uma‘u lava lake

 

HVO geologists observed a breakout from the west vent within Halema‘uma‘u crater
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
On Friday, HVO geologists observed a breakout from the west vent within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. This photo shows the vent about an hour before the breakout occurred on the northern side of the cone. Note that no glow or spatter can be seen from the cone (center-left), but loud hissing noises from the vent area were audible to field crews. USGS photo taken by J. Schmith on March 5, 2021.
A zoomed-in photo of the west vent (left) in Halema‘uma‘u crater, Kīlauea summit
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
A zoomed-in photo of the west vent (left) in Halema‘uma‘u crater, Kīlauea summit, about a half hour after the observed lava flow started on the north side of the vent. The activity began with weak incandescent spatter being thrown from the top of the cone at 11:45 a.m. HST, gradually increasing in vigor for about 30 minutes. The molten spatter fed two small lava channels down the northeast side of the cone (center-left). The flows merged at the base of the cone and continued to flow along the northern stagnant lava lake margin. USGS photo taken by J. Schmith on March 5, 2021.
A zoomed-in view near the base of the west vent within Halema‘uma‘u crater, Kīlauea summit
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
A zoomed-in view near the base of the west vent within Halema‘uma‘u crater, Kīlauea summit. As the lava flow continued from the northeast side of the west vent, it spread across the inactive crust of the northwest lava lake margin and eventually spilled into the active lava lake. This photo was taken at 5:00 p.m. HST, about 5 hours after the onset of the spattering at the vent. Lava also continued to enter into the lava lake from the inlet at the base of the west vent (center-left). USGS photo taken by J. Schmith on March 5, 2021.

Get Our News

These items are in the RSS feed format (Really Simple Syndication) based on categories such as topics, locations, and more. You can install and RSS reader browser extension, software, or use a third-party service to receive immediate news updates depending on the feed that you have added. If you click the feed links below, they may look strange because they are simply XML code. An RSS reader can easily read this code and push out a notification to you when something new is posted to our site.

Hawaii News

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory News

Kīlauea News

Natural Hazards News

United States of America News

Volcano Hazards Program News