Photo & Video Chronology — March 20, 2025 — Kīlauea summit eruption episode 14 | U.S. Geological Survey

Photo & Video Chronology — March 20, 2025 — Kīlauea summit eruption episode 14

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By Hawaiian Volcano Observatory March 21, 2025

Episode 14 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption of Kīlauea within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park started at 9:26 a.m. HST on March 19, and ended at 1:49 p.m. HST on March 20. The episode lasted over 28 hours with the last 7 hours consisting of fountains up to 600 feet (180 meters) high predominantly from the south vent.

March 20, 2025 - Views of episode 14

Red lava fountain erupting within a crater

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Vigorous fountaining began around 6:30 a.m. on March 20, and continued into the early afternoon, as part of episode 14 of the ongoing summit eruption of Kīlauea. In this view from the northeast rim of Kaluapele (the summit caldera), the fountains produce a high outgassing plume, with Mauna Loa on the right side of the photo. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Lava fountaining at Kīlauea summit caldera

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This photo shows the fountaining at Kīlauea summit at about 7:45 a.m. on March 20, during episode 14 of the ongoing eruption. At this time the south fountain was reaching the height of the crater rim, which is about 160 meters (520 feet) above the vent. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Bright red and orange lava fountain producing a dark brown plume of volcanic ash and tephra

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Just after 7:45 a.m. on March 20, the north fountain at the summit of Kīlauea abruptly shut off during episode 14, and the south fountain rose in height. The height was well above the crater rim, roughly 200 meters (650 feet) above the vent. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

Vigorous lava fountaining within a volcanic crater

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Lava fountaining in the southwest portion of Halema‘uma‘u crater from episode 14 of the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption. The south fountain was dominant around midday, and supplied lava into a long, narrow channel that fed into a circular perched lava pond. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on March 20, 2025.

A white-tailed tropicbird flies adjacent to a lava fountain during an active eruption

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A telephoto view looking at the top of a lava fountain from episode 14 of the ongoing Halema‘uma‘u eruption. A trio of Koa‘e kea (white-tailed tropicbirds) were flying circles close to the lava fountain, at the summit of Kīlauea, presumably riding the thermal updrafts around the vent. USGS photo by M. Patrick taken on March 20, 2025.

A scientist takes video of a red lava fountain over the rim of a crater

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An HVO geologist captures video of the episode 14 fountaining at the summit of Kīlauea. The videos are time-synchronized to better compare to geophysical data, for later study. USGS photo taken by M. Patrick on March 20, 2025.

A scientist collects data from vigorous lava fountaining during episode 14

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An HVO geologist uses a laser rangefinder to measure vent features during the episode 14 lava fountaining at the summit of Kīlauea. USGS photo by M. Patrick.

A photo of monitoring equipment on a crater rim looking at lava fountains during volcanic eruption — As episode 14 lava fountaining occurred during the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption, the KWcam webcam, F1cam thermal camera and continuous laser rangefinder perched on the crater edge (upper right portion of the photo), provided a continuous record of activity. These cameras were hit by grapefruit-sized pieces of tephra during an earlier episode of fountaining, but were protected by their enclosures. USGS photo by M. Patrick on March 20, 2025.

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This video shows images collected by a timelapse camera on the south rim of the summit caldera at Kīlauea, capturing the lava fountains during episodes 1-13 of the ongoing summit eruption. Images during the quiet intervals between fountaining episodes have been removed. The camera position was adjusted several times due to the rising height of the lava fountains. The timelapse video shows the dramatic increase in lava fountain height throughout the 13 episodes, culminating in fountain heights about 200 meters (650 feet) during episode 13.

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