Kīlauea's summit lava lake - Dec. 25, 2020 at 7:30 a.m. HST

HVO field crews measured Kīlauea's summit lava lake this morning (Dec. 25) around 7:30 a.m. HST. The lake surface is now 445 m (1460 ft) below the crater rim observation site, indicating that the lake has filled 176 m (577 ft) of the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u crater. The lake rose approximately 6 m (20 ft) over the past 24 hours. Fountaining continues at two locations, more vigorously at the northern (eastern) vent that is being drowned by the rising lake, and intermittently at the western vent; both vents continue to feed the growing lava lake. The lava lake volume this morning (Dec. 25) was about 21 million cubic meters (27 million cubic yards or 4.8 billion gallons). High SO₂ emissions continue. USGS photo.