Images

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and NOAA National Weather Service Weather Service Office Pago Pago meteorologists travelled by boat between the Manuʻa Islands, American Samoa, during an outreach and monitoring network maintenance trip in early September 2025. This view is from the boat looking south towards the north side of Ofu Island.

Broadband seismometer site on eastern Taʻū, American Samoa, before (inset) and after a work party cleared rapidly growing vegetation which had covered the solar panels along with the boulders to the right of the main photo. Due to lack of power from the solar panels being unable to charge during the day, the station was offline for many months.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist descends from the new tephra mound at Kīlauea summit that has been deposited over part of Crater Rim Drive (closed to the public) in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The short wooden post in the bottom left is the top of a sign post for the road. A tephra collection bucket is situated here for tephra sampling.

South of the active vents at Kīlauea summit, sections of Crater Rim Drive (closed to the public) in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park are covered in thinner deposits of tephra. The main axis of deposition of tephra was to the west of the vents, where the tephra has formed a mound over 20 meters (yards) deep over the road. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

The tire tracks in this photo trace the path of Crater Rim Drive (closed to the public) in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. This part of the road is covered by more than a meter (yard) of tephra erupted since December 23, 2024. Just south of this photo, a large mound of tephra accumulated during the ongoing eruption has buried the road over 20 meters (yards) deep.

This photo, taken from a boat, shows Olosega Island on the left, and Ofu Island further away on the right, in the Manuʻs Islands of American Samoa. These islands, connected by a one-lane bridge (out of sight), are the top of Ofu-Olosega volcano. USGS photo by N. Deligne.

Photo of the USGS Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring station on western Ta‘ū Island in the Manuʻa Islands of American Samoa. The station consists of a GPS unit, which can measure very slight movements of the ground, placed on a tripod that is leveled and centered over a benchmark.

From the Kīlauea Overlook within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists documented episode 32 of the Kīlauea summit eruption that began on December 23, 2025.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists conducted an aerial overflight during episode 32 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption. This view, taken at approximately 12:45 p.m. HST on September 2, 2025, shows three vents erupting from the western side of Halemaʻumaʻu, with lava flows reaching close to the eastern side of the crater floor. USGS photo by D.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists conducted an overflight of Kīlauea summit to conduct an aerial photo survey and collect lava samples of the current episode. This photo shows the helicopter passing in front of the outgassing plume on its way into the caldera. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

From the north rim of Halemaʻumaʻu crater, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists document eruptive activity during episode 32 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption. USGS photo by K. Mulliken.

Lava fountaining from the north vent during episode 32 of Kīlauea's summit eruption fed a wide channel on Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor. USGS photo by N. Kohagura.

This image was taken by the S2cam during episode 32 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption, on September 2, 2025. The S2cam is a temporary webcamera positioned on the south rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauae summit caldera) and the view is to the west. USGS webcam image. 

This image was taken by the S2cam during the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption, and it has been cropped from the original version. The S2cam is a temporary webcamera positioned on the south rim of Kaluapele (Kīlauae summit caldera) and the view is to the west. USGS webcam image.  USGS photo. 

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists took this photo of Aunu‘u Island while on a flight from Tutuila to Ofu Island in American Samoa on September 2, 2025. The view is from the south looking north. Aunu‘u Island is a tuff cone less than 1 mile southeast of Tutuila Island and is considered part of Tutuila volcano.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists documented episode 32 of Kīlauea's ongoing summit eruption from the Kīlauea Overlook within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. There, tephra from the lava fountain was visibly lofted high into the air by buoyant degassing during the eruption. USGS photo by C. Cauley. 

Aerial view of the episode 32 lava fountain within Halema‘uma‘u during a USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring helicopter overflight at approximately 1:00 pm on September 2, 2025. Three vents were erupting from the western side of Halemaʻumaʻu, and feeding lava flows into the western side of the crater.

Vigorous lava fountaining during episode 32 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption, on September 2, 2025, fed multiple lava channels on Halemaʻumaʻu crater floor. These lava channels transported erupted material from the west part of the crater, where the eruption was occuring, to the east side of the crater. USGS photo by N. Kohagura. 

A close-up view of tiny volcanic glass fragments on a leather glove. These particles are abundant around the western rim of Kīlauea summit caldera, an area that is closed to the public due to hazardous conditions. Volcanic glass fragments can cause irritation to eyes, lungs, and skin, and exposure should be avoided.

A USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist empties water and volcanic glass particles from a tephra collection bucket on the western rim of Halema‘uma‘u. The buckets are used to collect tephra from the eruption episodes for geochemical analyses.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Scientists visited the V1cam livestream camera site on the morning of August 29 for some maintenance work.