Kīlauea summit eruption - Dec. 26, 2020 at 5:15 a.m. HST

The eruption continues in Halema‘uma‘u crater at Kīlauea's summit. HVO field crews observing the activity overnight noted that at approximately 2:40 a.m. HST December 26, 2020, activity at west vent in the wall of Halema‘uma‘u rejuvenated: the west vent has became more active than the northern vent. Since the start of the eruption on December 20 at 9:30 p.m. HST, the northern vent has been dominant and erupting more vigorously than the weaker western vent. Over the past two days, the northern vent has slowly been drowned by the rising lava lake, and this photo (taken at about 5:15 a.m. HST on Dec. 26) shows that the west vent is now erupting more vigorously. At 3:30 a.m. HST today (Dec. 26), HVO field crews measured the rising lava lake as 178 m (583 ft) deep. USGS photo by H. Dietterich.