September 16, 2026 — Overhead view of south vent at the summit of Kīlauea

This photo, taken during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight on September 16, 2026, shows south vent at the summit of Kīlauea in the bottom center. The caldera floor is towards the top of the photo; the north vent is out of view on the left. There are prominent slickenslides on the right, which are polished striated rock surfaces caused by one rock mass moving across another. In this case, part of the vent area complex slid downhill, exposing underlying rock; the sliding caused the striations. On the left are brown to mauve lava flows erupted from north vent over the last week. USGS photo by N. Deligne.