Images

The episode 45 lava fountain was steady as dawn appeared at the summit of Kīlauea, with the clouds illuminated in hues of pink and purple. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This wide-angle photograph looks steeply upwards to capture the full extent of the outgassing plume rising vertically from the north vent at the summit of Kīlauea during the early morning of April 23, 2026, when episode 45 of lava fountaining was underway. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This panoramic photo, taken at sunrise from the northern caldera rim, shows the full span of activity during lava fountaining episode 45 at the summit of Kīlauea, with the north fountain supplying a channelized lava flow that reached into the eastern portion of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor.

Photograph of lava channels flowing from the base of the north vent lava fountain during episode 45 of lava fountaining in Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea on April 23, 2026. Episode 45 began just after 1 a.m. HST and ended about 8.5 hours later at 10:01 a.m. HST.

This image shows the north vent in Halema‘uma‘u erupting a lava fountain during episode 45 at Kīlauea summit on April 23, 2026, with a large dust devil, or puahiohio in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, driven by heat rising from the hot lava flows, visible near the lava fountain. This image was captured by a timelapse camera located on the south rim of the caldera.

The episode 45 outgassing plume at the summit of Kīlauea rose vertically and cast a long shadow towards Mauna Loa at sunrise. The wide-angle lens used for this photograph distorts the angle of the fountain. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted a summit monitoring overflight shortly after the end of episode 45 to collect visual and thermal imagery of Halema‘uma‘u crater and new lava flows in order the map the extent of the new deposits at Kīlauea summit. The episode 45 lava flows are the lighter portions of the crater floor in this view.

During a monitoring helicopter overflight of Kīlauea summit on April 23, 2026, shortly after the end of episode 45 of lava fountaining, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists got views into the north vent that show a complex structure with multiple openings.

Episode 45 lava fountaining began around 1:30 a.m. HST on Thursday, April 23, and continued for 8.5 hours. Fountain heights were moderate (mostly under 300 meters, or 1000 feet), and winds carried the tephra away from populated areas, minimizing tephra impacts. The north vent had the sole fountain, with the south vent showing only weak sporadic spattering.

A USGS geologist collects video of the north fountain and makes visual observations of the fountain dynamics during episode 45 at the summit of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Satellite image of Kilauea Military Camp near Kīlauea summit in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and neighboring Volcano Golf Course subdivision taken on April 22, 2026, and showing tephra covering the ground and roofs.

Satellite image of the north and south vents in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea on April 22, 2026. Incandescent lava is visible in both vents, and episode 45 of lava fountaining started shortly later during the early morning hours of April 23, 2026. Image credit: WorldView ©2026 Maxar, USG Plus.

Satellite image of Kilauea Military Camp near Kīlauea summit in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park taken on April 22, 2026, and showing tephra covering the ground and roofs. This area was affected by tephra deposition during lava fountaining episodes 43 (March 10, 2026) and 44 (April 9, 2026) at the summit of Kīlauea, in part due to wind conditions.

Satellite image of Halemaʻumaʻu and Kaluapele at Kīlauea summit in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Two eruptive vents (named the north and south vents) in Halemaʻumaʻu have been erupting lava fountains episodically since December 23, 2024. Forty-five episodes have occurred to date, depositing tephra around and in Kaluapele, and lava flows within Halemaʻumaʻu.

Satellite image of Volcano House Hotel (lower right in image), Kīlauea Visitor Center (middle right in image), and neighboring infrastructure near Kīlauea summit in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park taken on April 22, 2026.

During the 1926 Mauna Loa eruption, an ‘a‘ā flow about 457 m (1500 ft) wide and 9 m (30 ft) high headed straight for the village of Ho‘ōpūloa on April 17, as shown here. By the next day, the lava flow had destroyed a dozen houses, a church, and the wharf, and had nearly obliterated the bay. 

COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG) interferogram for the period from April 1 to April 9, 2026, covering Kīlauea volcano’s summit region.

This map shows the tephra fall associated with episode 44 of Kīlauea's episodic summit eruption, on April 9, 2026. Tephra is a generic word for any material erupted by a volcano that travels through the air before landing on the ground.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field engineer uses a field laptop to configure the connection between the new radio that was installed on the cell tower in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. This radio receives monitoring data via a radio link from another tower located at Uēkahuna, which collects data from various volcano-monitoring stations.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field engineer checks cables at the base of a cell tower in Hawaiʻi Volcano National Park as part of a new point-to-point radio being installed. The previous point-to-point radio was damaged during recent storms, resulting in partial volcano-monitoring data outages since April 11, 2026.

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026, USGS-Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field engineers with tower-climbing certifications ascended the cell tower within Hawaiʻi Volcano National Park.