Images

This image shows the north vent in Halema‘uma‘u erupting a lava fountain during episode 46 at Kīlauea summit on May 5, 2026. This image was captured by a timelapse camera located on the south rim of the caldera. USGS webcam image. 

This map shows lava flow and tephra accumulation at the summit of Kīlauea volcano associated with episode 45 and 46 of the ongoing eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu that started on December 23, 2024, using data recorded by the Italian Space Agency's (ASI) COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation satellite constellation.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory volcanic gas specialist sets up a Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer, or FTIR, near Kīlauea summit during episode 46 of lava fountaining on May 5, 2026.

The north vent (right in photo) in Halemaʻumaʻu erupted a lava fountain during episode 46 at the summit of Kīlauea on May 5, 2026. The south vent (left in photo) spattered intermittently during the first half of episode 46, and gas jetting continued to be visible during the latter half of episode 46. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

From the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, the north vent lava fountain during episode 46 on May 5, 2026, rose above the crater rim. In the foreground, the damaged remains of Crater Rim Drive, which became impassable during the 2018 Kīlauea summit collapse, are littered with tephra fallout from past lava fountaining episodes. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Pele's hair, lapilli, and ash particles from episode 46 of lava fountaining at the summit of Kīlauea were transported by wind in a north-northwest direction during the latter half of the episode on the afternoon of May 5, 2026.

This macro photograph shows Pele's hair, strands of volcanic glass, that had accumulated into a tumble-weed-like structure where it fell at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field station near Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. A highlighter cap provides a scale. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

Another view of the north vent erupting a lava fountain at the summit of Kīlauea during episode 46 on May 5, 2026. This photograph was taken from the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu, and part of the crater rim visible in the foreground. Incandescent lava flows on the crater floor are visible emanating downslope of the north vent. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This telephoto view shows the base of the north vent lava fountain during episode 46 at the summit of Kīlauea on May 5, 2026. A wide channel of lava flows from the vent, to feed lava flows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This animated gif showing changes to Kīlauea summit region during the episodic lava fountaining eruption. The first satellite image was taken on November 27, 2024, before the eruption began.

Photos of the fissure and lava cascading over the caldera rim from the August 14, 1971, eruption (top left), the extensive fissure system from the July 19–22, 1974 eruption (top center), and an aerial photo of the lava flow field from the September 25, 1982, eruption (top right).

Photo compilation of episodes 1–45 of the ongoing eruption at the summit of Kīlauea, including webcam imagery and photos taken by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists on the ground and during helicopter overflights. In all photos except for episode 7, the south vent is on the left and the north vent is on the right.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted post-episode-45 servicing of cameras along the south rim of Kīlauea caldera and witnessed a large dust devil, which is puahiohio in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, driven by heat rising from the hot lava flows on floor of Halema‘uma‘u crater. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This thermal map was made from thermal images collected during an overflight immediately after the end of Kīlauea summit episode 45 lava fountaining on April 23, 2026. The thermal map shows a single channelized lava flow extending from the north vent, splitting into branching lava channels in the central part of the crater floor.

Episode 45 of the Kīlauea summit eruption began at 1:34 a.m. HST on April 23, 2026. This photo was taken around 3:00 a.m. that morning, and shows lava fountaining from the north vent, feeding lava flows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The eruptive episode would go on until 10:01 a.m. HST on April 23, for about 8.5 hours of eruption total. USGS photo by K.

A closer look at the lava channels just north of the north fountain during episode 45 at Kīlauea summit, on the steeper slopes surrounding the two vents. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Lava flows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater are fed by fountaining from the north vent during the early morning hours on April 23, 2026. USGS photo by K. Mulliken.

The top of the lava fountain from the north vent during episode 45 at Kīlauea summit. Clasts in this zone either fell back to towards the base of the fountain and fed into the lava channel, or were carried higher into the plume to be deposited farther downwind. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Multiple small channels drain a ponded zone of the lava flow active in the central portion of the crater floor during lava fountaining episode 45 at the summit of Kīlauea on April 23, 2026. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This telephoto image shows where molten parts of the north vent lava fountain cascaded down to become part of lava flows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu during episode 45 of the Kīlauea summit eruption on April 23, 2026. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

This telephoto view shows the west side of the north fountain in Halema‘uma‘u during episode 45 on April 23, 2026. Tephra deposits have built a steeply sloped cone on the west side of the vent, with the slope illuminated by the fountain. USGS photo by M. Patrick.