Photo & Video Chronology — Kīlauea summit intrusion cracks and ground deformation

By Hawaiian Volcano Observatory October 7, 2026

As flames, spatter, and lava flows erupted from the north and south vents in Halemaʻumaʻu at the summit of Kīlauea on the night of September 30, 2026, magma was also making a new path below the surface of the caldera. This intrusive activity, which caused earthquakes and ground deformation, resulted in the formation of new cracks on the north part of the floor of Kaluapele, Kīlauea summit caldera.

Color photograph of backpack next to cracks on ground

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The largest new crack observed on the northern part of Kīlauea caldera floor during a field visit on October 6, 2026, was measured at 15 cm (6 inches) wide. The sharp edge of the tephra deposit above the crack, as well as delicate suspended roots that were pulled apart in the crack, help indicate that this is a new crack and not an older, existing one. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Color photograph of thermal camera showing temperature of ground crack

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Color photograph of backpack next to crack

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Another view of the new ground cracks in the north part of Kaluapele, Kīlauea summit caldera, cutting through the recent tephra deposits on the caldera floor. New cracks were up to about 6 inches (15 cm) wide. The active vents of the ongoing eruption are visible in the upper right portion of the photo. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Color photograph of steaming ground crack with glove for scale

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The September 30-October 1 intrusion of magma into the northern portion of Kaluapele, Kīlauea summit caldera, created scattered ground cracks on the surface. This portion of the caldera floor has been covered in steaming cracks for decades, but the new cracks were identifiable because they cut through the fresh tephra deposits from the episodic ongoing summit eruption. In this photo, the active vents of the ongoing eruption are visible in the upper left, and Uēkahuna overlook is in the upper right portion of the photo. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Color photograph of steaming ground crack

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Telephoto view of the northern part of Kīlauea's upper caldera floor the Uēkahuna overlook. While some of the ground cracking in this area occurred during the 2018 caldera collapse, there is evidence of new ground cracking associated with the dike intrusion that occurred during the night of September 30 to October 1. Long-lived, persistent steaming areas have been noted on the caldera floor for many years, such as the larger steaming area in the background shown here. The fainter, wispy steam in the foreground could be related to the intrusive activity, with steam exploiting the new ground cracks to get to the surface. USGS photo by D. Downs.

Color photograph of steaming ground cracks

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Photograph from the Uēkahuna overlook in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park looking at the northern part of Kīlauea's upper caldera floor. This is the area where increased seismicity and ground deformation occurred during the night of September 30 to October 1. The bottom right shows a semi-permanent GPS station on the caldera floor, and the middle of the photo shows what appear to be new ground cracking from the dike intrusion. The large steaming area has been present on the caldera floor for many years, with the new ground cracks likely providing new sources for the more faint, wispy steam to escape from the subsurface. USGS photo by D. Downs.

Side by side showing thermal and visual image of hot crack — A comparison of a thermal image and visual image of the new cracking in the north caldera at Kīlauea summit. The bands of higher ground temperatures extend to the left of the crack because the warm steam is carried southwest by the tradewinds. The temperature scale is in Celsius, with maximum observed temperatures in these cracks of about 60 dg C, or 140 dg F. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Color graphic showing ground deformation and earthquakes on a volcano — COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG) interferogram showing deformation of the ground surface around the summit of Kīlauea volcano from September 24 to October 2, 2026. Blue circles mark earthquakes recorded during this period, with larger circles representing stronger earthquakes. Most of the earthquakes occurred between September 30 and October 1, 2026.The yellow dotted line and arrows show the main path of the underground intrusion and the relative motion of the ground surface, respectively. New cracks, which likely opened around September 30, were identified through various remote-sensing methods, and are shown in red. The pattern of deformation is consistent with a shallow, nearly vertical sheet of magma—called a dike—located about 1 kilometer (~0.6 miles) or less beneath the yellow line.The symbol in the upper-left corner shows the satellite’s flight direction with an arrow and its viewing direction with a bar. The pink polygon represents the lava flows covering the crater floor. Main vents are shown as light-purple circles, while the extent of vents and fissures that opened between September 14 and 16, 2026, is shown as a light-purple dashed-line. Roads are shown in black.The satellite data used to generate the interferogram were provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana).