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Eruptive activity continues in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The west vent remains active with low fountaining in a slightly perched pond set within the cone. Lava pours through a short spillway into the lava lake.

Morning views of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at Kīlauea summit, on October 23, 2021. Variable west vent fountain heights are visible in this video, which is shown at 5 times speed.

Morning views of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at Kīlauea summit, on October 23, 2021. This view is from the south rim of the crater. Lava continues to erupt from a single vent on the western wall of the crater. Lava fountains within the cone and spills out of the cone opening, flowing east into the lake.

Understanding of rockfall frequency-magnitude relationships is important for managing rockfall hazards, but characterizing these relationships is a challenging problem due to limited data, limited access, and the difficulty of accurately dating historic rockfalls.

A morning overflight of Kīlauea summit on October 15, 2021, provided aerial views of the eruption within Halema‘uma‘u. Lava erupts from a single vent on the western wall of the crater. The vent has a spatter cone around it, with an opening to the east from which lava flows into the lava lake. 

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The eruption continues within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. The western vent supplies lava into the lava lake through a short spillway. Consistent fountain heights of 10–15 meters (30–50 ft) were interrupted by frequent larger busts of spatter exceeding the height of the cone (30 m or 100 ft). 

Lava continues to erupt from the western vent in Halema‘uma‘u. On October 12, a short-lived vent (erupting for approximately 10 hours) was present to the north of the main vent (right). Lava fountaining from the main vent was 10–15 meters (30–50 ft) above the lake surface, with larger bursts exceeding the height of the cone (30 meters or 100 ft).

Eruptive activity continues at the west vent in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. When this video was taken on October 12, a small subordinate vent was present on the north side of the main fountaining vent. The main fountaining source was supplying lava into the lake via a short spillway.

Kīlauea summit eruption lava fountain height in Halema‘uma‘u crater on October 10, 2021 was highly variable. A persistent low fountain a few meters (yards) tall was frequently interrupted by larger series of bursts throwing lava more than 15 meters (50 feet) into the air and onto the interior walls of the vent cone. 

An HVO geologist makes observations, collects data, and maintains instruments during the ongoing eruption within Halema'uma'u.

The eruption continues in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. Lava fountaining no longer emerges from the central portion of the lake, with fountaining limited to the west vent shown here. Low fountaining within the cone supplies lava into the lake via a short spillway. 

Lava fountains from the western fissure vent in the Halema‘uma‘u crater wall, at Kīlauea's summit during the ongoing eruption. The shaking at the end of the video is due to strong wind gusts moving the tripod. This video clip was recorded on October 5, 2021, from the southern crater rim. 

The eruption continues in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea. This video shows the dominant fountain at the west vent, from two different angles, as well as the smaller fountaining source emerging through the lava lake. 

Lava fountains from the western fissure vent in the Halema‘uma‘u crater wall, at Kīlauea's summit during the ongoing eruption. Sustained fountain heights from this fissure ranged from about 10–15 meters (33–49 ft) with occasional higher bursts of spatter. This video clip was recorded on October 2, 2021, from the western crater rim.

Lava fountains through the southern part of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea's summit during the ongoing eruption. Sustained fountain heights from this fissure ranged from about 5–10 meters (16–33 ft) with occasional higher bursts of spatter. This video clip was recorded on October 2, 2021, from the southern crater rim.

Low lava fountains near the southeast edge of the main island in the Halema‘uma‘u lava lake, during the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption. One of the small (less than 5 meters or 16 feet) fountains has built a cone on the edge of the island.

Lava fountains through the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u, at Kīlauea's summit, create waves or ripples in the lake surface. The ripples are visible on the surface as thin crustal plates move apart and back together again as the wave motion passes by (like inner tubes in a crowded wave pool), creating a moving arc of increased glow.

An eruption in Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea, began yesterday afternoon and continues this morning. During an overflight at approximately 7:30 a.m. HST on September 30, 2021, several fountaining sources were active in the crater, including those in the lake center and on the west wall. USGS video by M. Patrick.

The 92-mile, dead-end Denali Park Road crosses an accelerating rock glacier. Until 2014, the rock glacier would only displace the road a few tens of centimeters per year, however during the summer of 2021 the rock glacier has moved the road almost 40 cm/day.