Volcano Hazards Program Office

The western fissure in Halema‘uma‘u remains active, with incandescence visible in two small vent openings. The northeastern incandescent vent opening (right) has a narrow, drained lava channel extending down the flank of the cone. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on March 2, 2021.

Another close-up view of the western fissure in Halema‘uma‘u, showing the incandescent lava upwelling at the inlet zone along the western lake margin. This photo was taken on March 2, 2021, in an area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park that remains closed to the public due to safety reasons. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

The eastern portion of the lava lake in Halema‘uma‘u remains solidified at the surface. Numerous islands, previously drifting in the lake currents, are now locked in place. The remnants of a section of Crater Rim Drive, from the 2018 summit collapse, is visible in the lower right corner of the photo. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on March 2, 2021.

Mike Poland, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, debunks the misconception that if Yellowstone were to erupt, it would be Armageddon. In fact, the most common form of eruptive activity at Yellowstone is a lava flow, and even those aren't that common. They happen only once every few tens of thousands of years. Learn more in this monthly overview of

This map of Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea shows 20 m (66 ft) contour lines (dark gray) that mark locations of equal elevation above sea level (asl). The map shows that the lava lake has filled 218 m (715 ft) of the crater, to an elevation of 735 m (2411 ft) asl since the eruption began at approximately 9:30 p.m. HST on December 20, 2020. Contour lines highlighted

On the afternoon of Friday February 26, 2021, the active west side of the lava lake at Halema‘uma‘u, Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii, had numerous surface breakouts and foundering crust amid vigorous steaming due to the heavy rainfall. This view is looking to the east from the west side of the crater. At the base of the west vent lava was effusing at the lake level. There was no

Heavy rains at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano (Hawaii) cleared on the afternoon of Friday, February 26, 2021, to show the steaming surface of the lava lake at Halema‘uma‘u viewed from the west. A rainbow arches over the lake looking east across the crater toward Kīlauea Iki. This photo was taken within an area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park that remains closed to the

In the morning of Tuesday, February 23, a new source of spatter appeared on flank of the active western fissure within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea. It started to feed a short lava flow down the spatter cone and onto the crusted northwest margin of the lava lake. A field crew on Wednesday observed the flow to be active, and captured this photo through the lens of

On Wednesday, February 24, HVO scientists observed the Kīlauea summit eruption in Halema‘uma‘u from the west rim of the crater. In this photo, the active western fissure is marked by an incandescent skylight on the near side of the lava lake. A plume of sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases rises constantly from the fissure as it effuses lava into the lake, which

A telephoto image of the small lava flow from the western fissure within Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea. Occasional incandescence was visible (center) from the weakly active flow on the northwestern lava lake levee. A portion of the active lava lake is visible in the lower-right. This photo was taken within an area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park that remains

 A telephoto image of the western fissure within Halema‘uma‘u crater, at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. On Wednesday, February 24, 2021, the northern-most vent of the fissure was producing occasional weak bursts of spatter (center). This vent fed a new lava flow which was emplace between the spatter cone and the crater wall and advanced a short distance along the