Images

This reference map depicts the final state of the Kīlauea middle East Rift Zone eruption that occurred between September 15 and 20, 2024. The eruptive fissures stretched along 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) of the East Rift Zone, with the longest lava flow extending 1.4 kilometers (0.9 miles) from the main eruptive vent, which was situated west of Nāpau Crater.

Chain of Craters within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park before 1969, when several craters were partly or completely filled with lava. Now the Chain of Craters Road turns south, away from its pre-1969 route, between Pauahi and ʻAloʻi, a pit crater buried in 1969 by Maunaulu lava flows. The junction with the Hilina Pali Road is essentially at Devil’s Throat.

Map showing temporary seismic nodes across Kīlauea ERZ (red triangles). Earthquakes located in the ERZ between July 1, 2024, and September 22, 2024, are shown as black dots. Kaluapele (Kīlauea’s summit caldera) is outlined in magenta. The blue line drawn between two nodes indicates the area where the velocity changes in were calculated.

Changes in seismic velocity and earthquake rates at Kīlauea from July to mid-August 2024. Changes in seismic velocity with time are shown in the top panel. The bottom panel shows earthquake rates with time for the same period. The dashed magenta line indicates the opening of cracks and fractures as the magmatic intrusion began in the ERZ.

This map shows recent deformation at Kīlauea over the timeframe of September 14–26, 2024, during which an eruption occurred on the East Rift Zone.

A glowing crack in a fresh lava flow on the floor of Nāpau Crater, on the middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Pāhoehoe lava flows paved the floor of Nāpau Crater during the recent eruption on Kīlauea middle East Rift Zone. Pāhoehoe is characterized by smooth, billowy, and ropy surface textures. Recent lava flowed over tephra that previously coated this area of the crater floor.

A helicopter overflight on September 20, 2024, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected at the middle East Rift Zone eruption site on Kīlauea.  This thermal map shows that the eruption at Nāpau Crater had paused this morning, with no fountaining or active lava on the surface.

Thumbnail image for a video that summarizes the recent middle East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea. USGS image by K. Mulliken. 

A USGS scientist aims the viewfinder of an infrared spectrometer to measure the chemistry of volcanic gas on the last day of the Nāpau eruption, September 20, 2024. USGS photo by P. Nadeau.

A view across the floor of Nāpau Crater, covered with fresh lava flows. In the background of the photo, which faces northwest, lava flows that recently cascaded over the northwest wall of the crater are visible. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field monitoring crews reported minor spattering and small fountains at one end of the vent as of 8:30 a.m. HST on September 20, 2024. By 10 a.m. HST, eruptive activity had paused but the eruptive vents continued to emit volcanic gas and steam, visible in this aerial photograph.

On September 20, 2024, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists examined a ground crack near the recent eruption site in the remote middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This image, captured during a UGSS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory monitoring overflight the morning of September 20, 2024, shows that most of Nāpau Crater floor has been covered with new lava during the recent Kīlauea middle East Rift Zone eruption. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

A telephoto view of the fissure that briefly reactivated west of Nāpau Crater this morning, September 20. Low-level fountaining occurred from approximately 8–9:30 a.m. HST. USGS photo by H. Winslow.

During the September 20 monitoring overflight, USGS Hawaiin Volcano Observatory geologists observed the fissure west of Nāpau Crater reactivate briefly between 8–9:30 a.m. HST, with minor fissure fountaining and lava flows. View is looking southeast. USGS photo by H. Winslow.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field crews reported small fountains and lava flows erupting from one of the western fissures just before 9 a.m. HST on September 20, 2024. By 10 a.m. HST, that activity had ceased and the middle East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea had paused. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field crews reported small fountains and lava flows erupting from one of the western fissures just before 9 a.m. HST on September 20, 2024. By 10 a.m. HST, that activity had ceased and the middle East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea had paused. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

From the floor of Nāpau Crater, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists observed where recent lava flows covered the trail in the crater. The trail is visible in the lower center portion of the photograph, as a track in tephra deposited during previous eruptions in the area. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory gas scientists measured the composition of gases being emitted by Kīlauea during the waning phase of the middle East Rift Zone eruption on September 20, 2024. They used a FTIR spectrometer, which measures how the plume of gases being emitted at the eruption site absorbs infrared energy.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted a reconnaissance overflight of the eruption near Nāpau Crater on the middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea. They observed a 150-m-long (nearly 500 feet) fissure west of the crater erupting lava that is flowing in the crater via a channel more than 50 meters (about 164 feet) wide.