Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

October 4, 2016

Video release: New video footage of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit lava lake is now available as b-roll to news media outlets.

The U.S. Geological Survey has produced new b-roll footage, professionally filmed using a 4K camera, the highest resolution images of the volcano that USGS has ever produced for the public. Additionally, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory posts daily eruption updates on its website, as well as videos and still photos captured by scientists using point-and-shoot digital cameras.

The high-definition video offers images of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit eruption, which began in March 2008. It focuses on the active lava lake within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, an area that is closed to the public due to ongoing volcanic hazards. Filmed by USGS video producer Stephen M. Wessells, the footage features imagery that is not currently possible to obtain from other sources.

Highlights of the 11-minute footage include:

- Close ups of the active lava lake within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at the summit of Kīlauea.

- Close up and wide angle views of lava lake activity, such as gas bubble bursts and spattering.

- Aerial shots of the summit of Kīlauea focusing on Halemaʻumaʻu Crater and the lava lake.

- USGS scientists working in the field and inside the Observatory.

A complete shot list and low-resolution preview of the footage is available on the USGS YouTube channel.

News media outlets can download up to a 4K resolution .MP4 version of the video footage directly from the USGS Multimedia Gallery. If a Quicktime ProRes version is needed, please contact USGS video archivist Don Becker. Please credit the “U.S. Geological Survey” when using this video footage.

aerial photograph of steaming & smoking lava lake. Orange lava is visible through cracks & spatter in the lake's black crust.
 Aerial photograph of active lava lake in Hale maʻumaʻu Crater at the summit of Kīlauea volcano. Public domain

Get Our News

These items are in the RSS feed format (Really Simple Syndication) based on categories such as topics, locations, and more. You can install and RSS reader browser extension, software, or use a third-party service to receive immediate news updates depending on the feed that you have added. If you click the feed links below, they may look strange because they are simply XML code. An RSS reader can easily read this code and push out a notification to you when something new is posted to our site.