August 27, 2026 — USGS staff repair monitoring equipment at Kīlauea summit

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff dig out infrastructure from one of several volcanic gas monitoring stations that were buried by a thick tephra deposit at Kīlauea summit that has accumulated since the episodic lava fountaining eruption began in December 2024. These sites, which are downwind of the eruptive vents from the ongoing Halema‘uma‘u eruption, have been covered by tephra (volcanic rock fragments) from multiple high fountaining episodes. This monitoring station is part of an array of instruments used to monitor Kīlauea summit gas emission rates that have been offline since the sites were buried. USGS photo taken by L. DeSmither on August 27, 2026.