Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Photo and Video Chronology - Kīlauea - September 23, 2011

September 23, 2011

Three videos of the active lava streams from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.

Three videos of the active lava streams from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō

Video showing the fast-moving upper section of the lava stream on the relatively steep eastern flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The video pans to the left to show the smaller lava stream eruption from the lower (eastern) end of the fissure.
Video showing the main lava stream on the lower east flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. This stream carries most of the lava—the rest splits off to the south (to the left) and flows behind the mounds at upper left. The previous video shows the section of the stream visible at upper right. The lava stream here is about 4 m (13 ft) across, 2 m (7 ft) deep, and is moving at speed of about 3 m per second (10 ft per second).
Video showing a 6 m (20 ft) high lava cascade near the eastern base of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. This is the same lava stream shown in the previous two videos. The lava stream continues on several hundred more meters (yards) before transitioning into rubbly pāhoehoe and ‘a‘ā and stalling well short of yesterday’s flow front, which is now inactive.

High aerial view of the active lava channel of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater

Lava channel fed by September 21 fissure eruption coursing down the east flank of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō.
High aerial view of the active lava channel. The lowest, eastern-most end of the fissure is in view at the bottom of the photo. Rather than feeding the ‘A‘ā flow active for the first couple of days, the flow now is spreading out on the low slope area at the eastern base of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō, visible in the top half of the photo.
Close-up view of the lava channel on the relatively steep slope of Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō's east flank.
Lava falls formed at a topographic break in slope near the eastern base o Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō. The cascade is about 6 m (20 ft) high.
Stalled terminus of the ‘A‘ā flow fed by the September 21 fissure eruption.
Was this page helpful?