Kīlauea Volcano — Collapse/Explosion Event at Halema‘uma‘u

On June 30, 2018, at 02:51 PM HST, a collapse/explosion event occurred at Kīlauea's summit. An ash-poor plume rose about 150 m (500 ft) above the ground and drifted to the southwest. The energy released by the event was equivalent to a M5.3 earthquake. This video, taken by a USGS observer at Volcano House, captures rockfall (brown dust visible in the center right) along the bluff and a small plume rising from the Halema‘uma‘u crater. Since May 16, these collapse/explosion events have occurred on average, about every 28 hours. As magma from the shallow reservoir beneath the summit drains into the East Rift Zone, it slowly pulls away support of the rock above it. The crater floor responds by incrementally collapsing, which produces these events.