Episode 45 lava fountaining began around 1:30 a.m. HST on Thursday, April 23, and continued for 8.5 hours. Fountain heights were moderate (mostly under 300 meters, or 1000 feet), and winds carried the tephra away from populated areas, minimizing tephra impacts. The north vent had the sole fountain, with the south vent showing only weak sporadic spattering. The north fountain fed channelized lava flows that reached the northern and eastern portions of the crater floor. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Episode 45 of the Kīlauea summit eruption began at 1:34 a.m. HST on April 23, 2026. This photo was taken around 3:00 a.m. that morning, and shows lava fountaining from the north vent, feeding lava flows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater. The eruptive episode would go on until 10:01 a.m. HST on April 23, for about 8.5 hours of eruption total. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

A closer look at the lava channels just north of the north fountain during episode 45 at Kīlauea summit, on the steeper slopes surrounding the two vents. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

Multiple small channels drain a ponded zone of the lava flow active in the central portion of the crater floor during lava fountaining episode 45 at the summit of Kīlauea on April 23, 2026. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This telephoto image shows where molten parts of the north vent lava fountain cascaded down to become part of lava flows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu during episode 45 of the Kīlauea summit eruption on April 23, 2026. USGS photo by K. Mulliken. 

Lava flows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu crater are fed by fountaining from the north vent during the early morning hours on April 23, 2026. USGS photo by K. Mulliken.

This telephoto view shows the west side of the north fountain in Halema‘uma‘u during episode 45 on April 23, 2026. Tephra deposits have built a steeply sloped cone on the west side of the vent, with the slope illuminated by the fountain. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

The top of the lava fountain from the north vent during episode 45 at Kīlauea summit. Clasts in this zone either fell back to towards the base of the fountain and fed into the lava channel, or were carried higher into the plume to be deposited farther downwind. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

The episode 45 lava fountain was steady as dawn appeared at the summit of Kīlauea, with the clouds illuminated in hues of pink and purple. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This wide-angle photograph looks steeply upwards to capture the full extent of the outgassing plume rising vertically from the north vent at the summit of Kīlauea during the early morning of April 23, 2026, when episode 45 of lava fountaining was underway. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

The episode 45 outgassing plume at the summit of Kīlauea rose vertically and cast a long shadow towards Mauna Loa at sunrise. The wide-angle lens used for this photograph distorts the angle of the fountain. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

A USGS geologist collects video of the north fountain and makes visual observations of the fountain dynamics during episode 45 at the summit of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

This panoramic photo, taken at sunrise from the northern caldera rim, shows the full span of activity during lava fountaining episode 45 at the summit of Kīlauea, with the north fountain supplying a channelized lava flow that reached into the eastern portion of Halema‘uma‘u crater floor. Just to the right of the fountain is the new hill of tephra formed during the current eruption. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted post-episode-45 servicing of cameras along the south rim of Kīlauea caldera and witnessed a large dust devil, which is puahiohio in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, driven by heat rising from the hot lava flows on floor of Halema‘uma‘u crater. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists conducted a summit monitoring overflight shortly after the end of episode 45 to collect visual and thermal imagery of Halema‘uma‘u crater and new lava flows in order the map the extent of the new deposits at Kīlauea summit. The episode 45 lava flows are the lighter portions of the crater floor in this view. USGS photo by M. Patrick. 

During a monitoring helicopter overflight of Kīlauea summit on April 23, 2026, shortly after the end of episode 45 of lava fountaining, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists got views into the north vent that show a complex structure with multiple openings. This structure may have influenced the inclined nature of the early stage of the episode 45 lava fountain from the north vent. USGS photo by E. Johnson.