September 18, 2026 — Collecting cooled lava sample from Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor, Kīlauea

With permission from Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists collected a sample of lava that erupted from new vents in Halemaʻumaʻu between September 14-16, 2026. This photograph gives a sense of scale between the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater and the upper floor of Kaluapele (the summit caldera). The floor remains about 200 feet (60 meters) between the upper and larger part of the floor of Kaluapele. The rim of the caldera is another 500 feet (150 meters) above that.  USGS photo by K. Mulliken.