A look back at Halema‘uma‘u two years ago

The lower East Rift Zone eruption started two years ago, on May 3, 2018. At that time, the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea's summit, had just started dropping in response to the changes in the East Rift Zone. Today, two years later, a new lake is present in Halema‘uma‘u, but formed from water. Many of the monitoring techniques remain the same, however. HVO scientists make routine visual observations, measure the lake level with a laser rangefinder, and track the activity 24/7 with webcams and thermal cameras. USGS photos by C. Parcheta and M. Patrick.