Lava flow onto lowest exposed Kīlauea summit down-dropped block

The elevation of the surface of the lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater has now risen slightly above the level of the lowest down-dropped block from the 2018 collapse of Kīlauea summit. Overnight on November 15, 2021, a lava break-out from the edge of the lake allowed lava to flow onto the surface on the block. HVO geologists observed this new flow during a helicopter overflight of the Kīlauea summit on November 16. USGS image by B. Carr.