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Photo & Video Chronology — April 8, 2025 — Kīlauea summit eruption episode 17

By Hawaiian Volcano Observatory April 8, 2025

Kīlauea's current eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Kaluapele (the summit caldera) began on December 23, 2024. There have now been 17 episodes of fountaining separated by pauses in activity. All eruptive activity remains within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. No significant activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

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Color photograph of eruption
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Episode 17 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea began last night, April 7, with lava flows erupting from the south vent at 10:15 p.m. HST. Low lava fountaining (100 feet, or 30 meters) was active overnight and continues this afternoon, feeding a lava flow on the crater floor.  USGS photo by M. Zoeller. 
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Color photograph of volcanic vent erupting
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Following the onset of the Kīlauea summit eruption's seventeenth episode in the late evening of April 7, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited the southern rim of Halemaʻumʻau crater on the morning of April 8 to observe vent activity. Unlike most of the recent eruptive episodes, this one has seen low-level lava fountains (only up to 100 feet, or 30 meters) at the south vent in conjunction with summit deflation, which has typically heralded taller fountains approaching several hundred feet in height. USGS photo by M. Zoeller. 
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Color photograph of lava flows
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While the south vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea has been actively fountaining on April 8, the north vent has hosted a lava pond with weak spatter. At times, this pond has overflowed to feed short lava flows down the flanks of the vent structure. USGS photo by M. Zoeller. 
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Color photograph of volcanic eruption
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As the day progressed on April 8, despite continued lava fountaining at the south vent (background right), activity declined at the north vent (foreground left). This afternoon photo captured from the western rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater—looking to the south—shows the north vent's lava pond fully crusted over and sitting lower within the spatter cone. USGS photo by M. Zoeller. 
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Color photograph of scientists monitoring volcanic eruption
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In the afternoon of April 8, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited the western rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater to observe the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption during its seventeenth episode. This telephoto view of the geologists shows them taking laser rangefinder measurements of lava fountains at the active eruptive vent below them within the crater. USGS photo by M. Zoeller. 

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