Wide-angle view of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, March 4, 2021

During a routine overflight of the Kīlauea East Rift Zone on March 4, HVO scientists visited the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō area to check for any significant changes in recent months. Their most notable observation was further accumulation of talus—rock collapse debris—in the crater that formed on April 30, 2018, as seen in this wide-angle photo. This talus pile now almost completely fills the lowermost shaft of the crater (bottom-center-right), standing as evidence that the rim of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō remains unstable and prone to collapses. For scale, the crater is approximately 230 m (750 ft) deep in this view. USGS photo by M. Patrick.