Images

The September 30-October 1 intrusion of magma into the northern portion of Kaluapele, Kīlauea summit caldera, created scattered ground cracks on the surface.

Aerial view of the northern part of the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea taken during a USGS monitoring overflight on the morning of October 1, 2026. Black rubbly ʻaʻā and smooth gray pāhoehoe lava flows are visible emanating from the vent complex that is visible the left background of the photo. USGS photo by D. Downs.

Following the seismic swarm and tilt excursion associated with an intrusion over the night of September 30 to October 1, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff undertook a helicopter overflight to assess any changes on the upper caldera floor of Kaluapele and the crater floor of Halemaʻumaʻu.

Aerial view of the north (bottom of the photo), south (upper left), and west (obscured by south vent plume) vents in Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea on the morning of October 1, 2026. All three vents were strongly glowing during the overflight, although glow from the west vent is obscured in this view.

Aerial view of the north (bottom right of the photo), south (left side), and west (upper middle) vents in Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea on the morning of October 1, 2026. All three vents were strongly glowing during the overflight, with lava seen at about 100 ft (30 m) down in the vent conduit. USGS photo by D. Downs.

Aerial view of part of the fissure system that opened on September 14, 2026, on the northern caldera wall. Parts of this fissure system continued to erupt until September 16. The explosion pit and nearby fissure high on the caldera wall were the shortest-lived parts of this fissure system. Bright yellow patches of sulfur have since accumulated near these vents.

COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG) interferogram for the period from September 11–27, 2026, covering Kīlauea volcano’s summit region. The symbol in the upper left indicates the satellite's orbit direction (arrow) and look direction (bar). 

On the left is a map with an upper inset showing the location of American Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean, a lower inset showing the overall volcano monitoring network of the territory, and the main map showing the topography and bathymetry of the Manua Islands along with the current monitoring network (unchanged since September 2025).

This reference map depicts new vents and lava flows that erupted within Halema‘uma‘u crater at the summit of Kīlauea from September 14–16, 2026. Most of the data for this map were collected during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight on the morning of September 17, by which point eruptive activity had paused.

During a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight of Kīlauea summit the afternoon of September 18, 2026, geologists captured this view showing several of the vents degassing.

The north vent in Halemaʻumaʻu, at the summit of Kīlauea, was incandescent during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight the afternoon of September 18, 2026. The south (upper left part of image) and west vents (upper center part of image) were degassing, and only a very minor area of incandescence was visible in the south vent. USGS photo by K.

Glow and flames were observed in Kīlauea summit webcam imagery overnight, with occasional spatter, but only incandescence was visible within the vent during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight the afternoon of September 18, 2026. USGS photo by K. Lynn. 

The shiny grey lava flow in the foreground of this photograph was erupted between September 14-16, 2026, by one of several new vents that opened in and along the northwest wall of Halemaʻumaʻu crater at the summit of Kīlauea.

This low-angle aerial view, taken during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight of Kīlauea summit on September 18, 2026, shows two of the six vents that erupted between September 14-16, 2026.

With permission from Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists collected a sample of lava that erupted from new vents in Halemaʻumaʻu between September 14-16, 2026. This photograph gives a sense of scale between the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater and the upper floor of Kaluapele (the summit caldera).

Four months of data from tiltmeter UWD at Kīlauea’s summit. Deflationary periods are particularly visible before fountaining episodes 51-54. The tiltmeter record is rotated to an azimuth of 300 degrees, such that upward deflections are consistent with inflation of the summit magma chamber and downward deflections are consistent with deflation.

During the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overflight on September 16, geologists captured this view of Kīlauea Iki (erupted in 1959) in the center, with Maunaulu lava shield (erupted from 1969–1974) on the skyline on the right. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

Aerial photo from the east looking west of two currently inactive fissures on the wall of Halema‘uma‘u, located to the north (left out of view) of the main vent complex. The fissure on the left has a circular appearance and initiated shortly before 9 p.m. H.S.T. on September 15.

Low-angle aerial view of spatter cone (center of photo) that has built up around north vent since the end of episode 54 lava fountaining on August 25, 2026. The cone is approximately 10 meters (30 feet) high. In this photo, spatter is visible leaving north vent. South vent spatter is visible in the upper portion of the photo on the left side towards the center.

Oblique aerial view to the north of the lava flows (silvery appearance) that have erupted from the new fissures at the summit of Kīlauea volcano within Halema‘uma‘u. This photo was taken on a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory overflight the morning of September 16.

View of north vent (top left), south vent (middle right), and west vent (bottom center) within Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea, taken during a helicopter overflight on September 16, 2026. Helicopter skids are visible in the bottom right.