Images

During the Kīlauea Southwest Rift Zone eruption on June 3, fissures 3 and 4—located farther to the southwest than fissures 1 and 1— erupted the larger volumes of lava and continue to exhibit elevated gas emissions.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field engineers visited the KOSM GPS station on June 6, 2024, to install a new seismic sensor, with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The KOSM station is located southwest of the now inactive fissure 4 of the Southwest Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea (the southwest-most fissure). USGS image by A.R. Nalesnik.

The recent Southwest Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea produced small volumes of lava, and fountains left volcanic spatter on top of and beyond the extent of the newly erupted flows. The collected pieces of spatter range in size up to 4 inches (1 to 10 centimeters). USGS image by A.R. Nalesnik.

The new seismometer at station KOSM on the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea being buried in the ground, with permission from Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. This photo was taken before the seismometer was totally buried.

The new seismometer at station KOSM on the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea being buried in the ground, with permission from Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. This photo was taken before the seismometer was totally buried.

This map shows recent deformation spanning the recent eruption at Kīlauea.  It covers from May 28 to June 6, 2024, and is recorded by the Italian Space Agency's (ASI) Cosmo-SkyMED satellite. Colored fringes denote areas of ground deformation, with more fringes indicating more deformation.  Each color cycle represents 1.5 cm (0.6 in) of ground mot

During an overflight at approximately 8:15 a.m. HST on June 6, 2024, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists observed the extensive crack features on either side of the now inactive fissures from the June 3 Kīlauea Southwest Rift Zone eruption. Cracks range in length and are parallel to the fissure system. USGS photo by A.R. Nalesnik. 

During the June 3, 2024, Southwest Rift Zone eruption, Fissures 1 and 2 (pictured here) had low erupted volumes compared to fissures 3 and 4. Fissures 1 and 2 were located closer to Kalupele (Kīlauea summit caldera), whereas fissures 3 and 4 are on the southwest section of the fissure system. USGS Image by A.R. Nalesnik.

Aerial overview of fissures 3 and 4 of the now paused Kīlauea Southwest Rift Zone eruption that began on June 3, 2024. During an overflight at approximately 8:15 a.m. HST on June 6, 2024, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists observed persistent gas emissions and no active lava. USGS Image by A.R. Nalesnik.

At the KOSM GPS located station on the Southwest Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea, HVO field engineers installed a new seismic sensor, with permission from Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS image by M. Warren on June 6, 2024.

On June 6, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory field engineers installed a new seismometer on the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea to monitor earthquakes. The new seismic station is co-located at an existing monitoring station consisting of a GPS and high-resolution gas monitoring equipment.

The eruption on Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone remained paused on Tuesday, June 4, but Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited the area to take measurements of the previous day's lava flows. Here, a geologist examines part of the lava flow from fissure 2.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists visited the now inactive fissures that formed on June 3rd on the upper Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea. Looking through a hand lens, geologists recognize the abundance of olivine ranging from 1-3 mm (about 0.1 inch) in size in the spatter samples.

These two thermal maps were constructed from images captured during USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflights on June 3, 2024, at 6:00 a.m. HST (left) and June 4, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. HST (right). Covering the same extent and using the same thermal color scale, you may notice slight expansion of lava flows to the south following the first overflight.

View to the southwest of Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone eruption vents emitting volcanic gas, as seen from the Red Hill Cabin on Mauna Loa's Northeast Rift Zone midday on June 4, 2024. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

Kīlauea volcano is erupting. A new eruption began at approximately 12:30 a.m. HST on Monday, June 3, likely about a mile (1-2 km) south of Kīlauea caldera and north of the Koa'e fault system and Hilina Pali Road, within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.

Kīlauea's eruption plume illuminated during the early morning hours of June 3, 2024, visible from the Volcano Golf Course area. USGS image by D.A. Phillips. 

The glow from the eruption of Kīlauea volcano, visible from Volcano House in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park during the early morning hours of June 3. Image courtesy of Volcano House.

At approximately 3:15 a.m. HST, the eruption south of Kīlauea's summit remained active. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists captured this view on route to the eruption area. USGS image by N. Deligne. 

This reference map depicts the approximate location of fissure vents that began erupting from Kīlauea Southwest Rift Zone at approximately 12:30 a.m. HST on June 3, 2024. The most recent eruption in this region was during December 1974, which lasted only about 6 hours. At this time, it is not possible to say how long the eruption will last. 

A new eruption began along Kīlauea's Southwest Rift Zone on June 3, 2024, and this map depicts activity on the eruption's first day. New lava flows are shown in red, only covering about 88 acres (36 hectares) of ground within relatively short distances of the eruptive fissures.