Images

A helicopter overflight on September 15, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruptive activity continues with fountains active on the downdropped block, just east of Halema‘uma‘u crater, with lava pouring west onto the crater floor.

A helicopter overflight on September 15, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruptive activity continues with fountains active on the downdropped block, just east of Halema‘uma‘u crater, with lava pouring west onto the crater floor.

This southwest-looking overview of the eruptive vents at the summit of Kīlauea was captured during a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory helicopter overflight on Friday, September 15.

This compilation shows thermal maps of the summit eruption over the past five days. The diminishing area of active lava, and decrease in the number of active vents, indicates a drop in eruptive vigor since the eruption started. 

The Kīlauea summit eruption that began on Sunday, September 10, 2023 continues; this map depicts lava flow activity as of September 14, the fourth full day of the eruption.

The plume from the current eruption rises above the floor of Halema‘uma‘u. The most recent measurements, taken September 13, indicate 20,000 tonnes per day of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) are being emitted.

This telephoto view shows one of the erupting vents in Kīlauea caldera. Lava fountain heights at the vents reached up to about 10-15 meters (32-50 feet) and the horseshoe-shaped spatter ramparts that have accumulated on the south/downwind side of the vents remain 20 meters (66 feet) high. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

This thermal image, collected on September 14, 2023, shows features of the eruption site at the summit of Kīlauea. The image looks roughly west. The brighter colors are hotter temperatures, which are closest to the several active eruptive vents on the downdropped block within the caldera.

Station KOHD on Kohala houses a seismometer and a repeater, meaning that data is both collected and relayed at this station. The station was severely damaged by storms and heavy winds earlier this year. HVO field technicians rebuilt the station during the week of September 11.

View of the eruptive vents from the east side of Kīlauea caldera, looking west-northwest toward Kīlauea Overlook. Mid-day on September 14, 2023, the cone in the foreground of the image had mild spattering within ponded lava inside the cone. USGS photo by K. Lynn.

A row of scones in Halema‘uma‘u are actively ejecting spatter, which helps build the height of each structure. Cone heights of 20 meters (66 feet) have been measured by field teams. Of the line of vents spanning 0.8 miles (1.4 km) that were observed active during the initial phases of the eruption, only six remain active as of September 14, 2023. USGS photo by L.

This telephoto view shows one of the erupting vents in Kīlauea caldera. Lava fountain heights at the vents reached up to about 10-15 meters (32-50 feet) and the horseshoe-shaped spatter ramparts that have accumulated on the south/downwind side of the vents remain 20 meters (66 feet) high. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

A helicopter overflight on September 12, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruptive activity continues with fountains active on the downdropped block, just east of Halema‘uma‘u crater, with lava pouring west onto the crater floor.

A helicopter overflight on September 14, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruptive activity continues with fountains active on the downdropped block, just east of Halema‘uma‘u crater, with lava pouring west onto the crater floor.

A helicopter overflight on September 14, 2023, allowed for aerial visual and thermal imagery to be collected at the summit of Kīlauea. The eruptive activity continues with fountains active on the downdropped block, just east of Halema‘uma‘u crater, with lava pouring west onto the crater floor.

Much of the plume from Kīlauea’s current eruption is sulfur dioxide (SO₂). HVO’s gas monitoring station HRSDH has measured up to 12 ppm of SO₂ at its location, nearly 2 miles (3 km) southwest, downwind of the eruption.

View from the ground of one of the vents erupting in Kīlauea caldera on September 14, 2023. The lava fountain heights at the vents reached up to about 10-15 meters (32-50 feet) and the horseshoe-shaped spatter ramparts that have accumulated on the south/downwind side of the vents are 20 meters (66 feet) high. USGS photo by D. Downs.

View from above of the fissures erupting and feeding the lava flows within Halema‘uma‘u and Kīlauea caldera. The shiny black patches are new lava flows, erupting since September 10, 2023, whereas the black dull patches tend to be spatter (molten bombs thrown out) from the vents. The vents farthest to the east have already stopped erupting molten bombs and lava.

The far eastern end of the fissure system that opened in Kīlauea caldera on September 10, 2023, was in a talus slope at the eastern end of the downdropped block. The vents associated with this part of the fissure produced weak lava fountaining that did not last long. The lava cascaded down and covers the blocks that make up the talus slope. USGS photo by D.

A Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist sets up remote cameras for a close-up view of the September 2023 eruption within Kīlauea summit caldera. These cameras will help capture changes in the eruption's behavior so that geologists studying the volcano can determine better the processes at work that create the lava fountains. USGS photo by D. Downs.

View of eruptive activity in Kīlauea caldera, from the west side of the caldera, looking east. The three easternmost cones, ranging from 14-20 meters (46-66 ft) fall, were far more active than the west cone in the image which was only 10 meters (33 ft) tall.