Images

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026. This photograph of the episode was taken by the KPcam, located on the southern flank of Mauna Loa in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, and shows Kīlauea summit in the background. USGS webcam image. 

On June 27, 2026, episode 50 of lava fountaining from the north vent in Halema‘uma‘u, at the summit of Kīlauea, produced spatter-fed lava flows on the southwest side of the cone, shown in this image taken from the public viewing area at Uēkahuna Bluff around noon in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

During the afternoon of June 27, 2026, several USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists ventured into the area northwest of Halema‘uma‘u crater in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park to collect tephra samples from Kīlauea summit eruption episode 50.

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026.

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026. This photograph of the episode was taken by the K2cam, located near Uēkahuna bluff in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, and shows visitors viewing the eruption. USGS webcam image. 

Episode 50 of lava fountaining in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea took place for about 7 hours on June 27, 2026. This photograph of the episode was taken by the V3cam, located on the southern rim of the crater in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. USGS webcam image. 

On June 27, 2026, episode 50 of the ongoing episodic eruption in Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea produced a lava fountain from the north vent that reached up to 1000 feet (300 meters) high. This photo was taken from the public overlook at Uēkahuna bluff in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

While visiting the closed area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists found volcanic bombs (fragments that are larger than 2.5 inches or 64 mm) that were deposited during Kīlauea summit eruption lava fountaining episode 50, which were strewn across the tephra cone on the southwest side of Halema‘uma‘u crater.

View of Kaluapele (Kīlauea's summit caldera) from the B1 webcam on June 27, 2026, acquired during lava fountaining episode 50. USGS webcam image.

This reference map depicts the Kīlauea summit eruption within Halema‘uma‘u crater that began on December 23, 2024. Most of the data for this map were collected during a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight on June 9, 2026. As such, the provided statistics are reflective of the first forty-eight episodes of the eruption through June 1, 2026.

Along the south portion of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, a portion of Crater Rim Drive that fell into the crater during the 2018 Kīlauea summit collapse is close to being covered with lava flows. The block that the road is located on is tilted, allowing lava flows to traverse up it like a ramp from the lower left part of the photo.

Volcanic gas emitting from the Halemaʻumaʻu south vent at the summit of Kīlauea obscured views during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring flight on June 24, 2026. Glow from the molten lava within the vent is vaguely visible in this view. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

During a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight of Kīlauea summit on June 24, 2026, scientists captured this view looking down into the bifurcated structure within the north vent in Halemaʻumaʻu crater. Magma was visible roiling within the vent. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

At the eastern margin of Halemaʻumaʻu, where the episodic lava fountaining eruption has been taking place since December 2024, lava flows have encroached on nearly the entire surface of the "down-dropped block." This feature lowered during the 2018 collapse and while most of its surface has been covered with new lava flows, much of the volume of the 2018 collapse re

In Halemaʻumaʻu crater, a patchwork of lava flows of different ages from different eruptive episodes at Kīlauea summit have paved the crater floor.

On the south rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, bulldozers were used to create mounds, visible in the center portion of the image, in an effort to prevent planes from landing in this area of Kīlauea during World War II. The episodic lava fountaining eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu has partially blanketed this area in tephra, but these features remain visible.

A rainbow (ānuenue) frames altered and sulfur-coated tephra on the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea. These deposits often form in between lava fountaining episodes in Halemaʻumaʻu, as degassing and heat release continues. During lava fountaining episodes, new deposits coat the crater rim and bury the existing ones.

Numerous fumaroles, or degassing areas, dot the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea. These features are ephemeral, being covered with lava flows and then reappearing, and are often surrounded with bright yellow sulfur deposits. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

The vent structure that has built up in Halemaʻumaʻu is approaching the elevation of the crater rim, but several hundred feet remain between it and the top of the tephra cone built up on the crater rim by the fountaining episodes since December 2024.

This photograph, which was taken from the ground in the southeastern portion of Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea, shows USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists collecting samples of a lava flow from episode 49 that took place on June 14, 2026.

Comparison images from June 14, 2026, showing the episode 49 lava fountain at 11:01 a.m. (left) and the same location at 5:59 p.m., shortly after the fountaining stopped (right). Only the north vent produced lava fountaining during episode 49, while the south vent (located to the left of the fountain) displayed some minor spattering and jetting.