Images

On April 29, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory undertook a helicopter surveillance flight over Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea volcano. At the time, the ongoing eruption was between eruptive episodes (episode 18 ended on April 22).

This photograph, taken during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring helicopter overflight midday on April 29, 2025, shows an overview of Kīlauea Iki (center) and Pu‘upua‘i (bottom center to right). Kīlauea Iki erupted in 1959 over a 5-week period with 17 fountaining episodes, similar to the ongoing eruption in Halema‘uma‘u.

View looking southwest of the southwest corner of Halema‘uma‘u and the tephra blanket from the ongoing eruption at Kīlauea. The tephra is brown and covers center and right side of the photo.

During the course of routine monitoring equipment maintenance, on Friday, April 25 a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist visited a site on the southeastern rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauea summit caldera) known as Akanikōlea—a culturally-significant place that is featured in Hawaiian oral traditions.

This photo shows south (center) and north (right) vents degassing, three days after the end of episode 18 of Kīlauea's ongoing summit eruption. Mauna Loa's flank is visible in the upper portion of the photo. The tephra blanket (brown) from recent episodes is visible on the wall behind the vents and also draping over the ground at the top of the cliff.

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) image of Mauna Loa spanning November 16 to December 2, 2022. Concentric patterns of colored fringes indicate the complex pattern of deformation during the 2022 Mauna Loa eruption. Lava flows are shown by light red areas and summit tiltmeter site locations are shown with white circles.

Episode 18 on April 22, 2025, of Kīlauea's ongoing eruption occurred during wind conditions that resulted in tephra being deposited in the Uēkahuna area, north of the vents. Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park temporarily closed the Uēkahuna area at the time and cleaned affected roads and parking lots after episode 18 ended (foreground).

View of north and south vents from the northwest, approximately 21 hours after the end of episode 18 of the eruption at Kīlauea's summit. Volcanic gases, mostly water vapor, obscure most of the view as the wind blows the gas northwards. USGS photo by N. Deligne. 

This photo shows a close up of the north vent at the summit of Kīlauea during episode 18 of the ongoing eruption.  Low fountaining supplied lava to a lava pond that was continuously overflowing the rim of the cone, creating swiftly moving cascades of lava down the flank of the cone.  USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

HVO scientists participated in an overflight mission during episode 18 of the Halema‘uma‘u eruption. The crew landed on the crater floor to collect a molten lava sample, pictured here. HVO collects molten samples to retain a "snapshot" of the lava before extensive cooling.

Telephoto view of lava fountaining from the south vent in Halema‘uma‘u during episode 18 of the eruption within the summit caldera of Kīlauea. The south vent fountains reached above the crater rim walls during the episode and recorded heights of about 600 feet (200 meters). USGS photo by H. Winslow.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists participated in an overflight mission during episode 18 of the ongoing eruption in Halema‘uma‘u at the summit of Kīlauea. The crew collected images to construct landscape elevation models and thermal imagery of the crater floor.

Dawn timelapse image showing the shadow of the episode 18 lava fountain in Halemaʻumaʻu on the west caldera wall at the summit of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick.   

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists on the caldera rim of Kīlauea observed lava fountain heights of about 150 meters (500 feet) around 1 p.m. on April 22, shortly before episode 18 ended. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This photo shows a close up of the south vent at the summit of Kīlauea on April 22 during episode 18.  USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This photo shows a close up of the south vent at the summit of Kīlauea during episode 18.  USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

A close-up of the low fountain at the south vent on April 20 that was supplying lava into the lava channel, at the summit of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Intermittent activity occurred in the south vent at the summit of Kīlauea the morning of April 20. The lava column would rise and fall in the conduit, and when visible, a low dome fountain (approximately 5 meters, or yards, high) supplied lava into a narrow lava channel exiting the cone. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

A koa‘e kea (white tailed tropicbird) soars above Halema‘uma‘u crater floor in front of low fountaining at the south vent on April 20. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

A closer view of the ephemeral lava channel active the morning of April 20, supplied by lava from the intermittent activity at the south vent at Kīlauea summit. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists accessed the caldera rim on April 20 by driving on Crater Rim Drive in the hazardous closed area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. This area, which is generally downwind of the eruptive vents, has now been covered by 2 meters (yards) of tephra from the recent lava fountaining.