Images

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geology field crews maintain watch over the eruptive activity in the lower East Rift Zone and at Kīlauea's summit. Here, a geologist documents the behavior of lava as it exits the Fissure 8 cone. Lava enters the upper channel traveling as fast as 30 km/hour (18 mi/hour).

This animated gif shows the fissure 8 tephra (cinder and spatter) cone morphology changes between June 15 and 24, 2018.

View of the fissure 8 cone and fountain from the end of Luana Street in Leilani Estates. Photo taken at 12:20 p.m.

This panorama of Kīlauea's summit caldera was made about 10 a.m. HST from the Keanakāko‘i overlook on the south side of the caldera. Halema‘uma‘u is visible steaming to the left, and the ongoing ground cracking is visible in the center of the image.

Early morning view of the open lava channel during helicopter overflight of the lower East Rift Zone.

Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center's Aerial Imaging and Mapping rock stars preparing to fly Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) mission while a river of lava flows in the background

On June 23, 2018 at 4:32 p.m. HST after approximately 17 hours of elevated seismicity, a collapse explosion occurred at the summit if Kīlauea. The energy released by the event was equivalent to a magnitude 5.3 earthquake.

This animated GIF shows a timelapse sequence consisting of one image per day between June 13 and 24. The photos were taken from the southern caldera rim, near Keanakāko‘i Crater, and look north towards HVO and Jaggar Museum.

At fissure 8, fountains provide a vigorous supply of lava that exits the cinder cone and drops over a spillway to enter a well-established lava channel that extends to the sea.

Aerial view of lava fountain at Fissure 8 and uppermost lava channel during an early morning overflight of the lava flow&nbs

View to the southwest, looking "up" the lava channel. Lava flows from Fissure 8 (not pictured) through the open channel about 13 km (8 mi) to the ocean. Lava remains incandescent (glowing orange) along the entire length of the channel with sections of cooled lava (black) on the surface.

Lava is entering the sea on the southern side of the entry area primarily through the open channel, but also along a 1 km (0.6 mi) wide area. The entry areas are marked by billowing laze plumes.

USGS field crews track activity in and around Leilani Estates in Kīlauea Volcano's lower East Rift Zone. Observations are also collected on a daily basis from cracks in the area of Highway 130, shown here (no changes in temperature, crack width, or gas emissions have been noted recently).

On June 24 a small ash-poor steam plume rose above the Halema‘uma‘u crater rim following another collapse explosion event at 4:12 p.m. HST (image taken at 4:27 p.m.).

The spatter cone at fissure 8 is now about 55 m (180 ft) tall. Lava fountains rise only occasionally above that point, sending a shower of 

Geologists captured this time-lapse video of the perched lava channel issuing from fissure 8 on Kīlauea's lower East Rift Zone.

On June 23, 2018 at 4:32 p.m. HST after approximately 17 hours of elevated seismicity, a collapse explosion occurred at the summit if Kīlauea. The energy released by the event was equivalent to a magnitude 5.3 earthquake.

Early morning view of the open lava channelbeginning about 5 km (3.1 miles) from Fissure 8.

Lava continues to erupt at a high rate from Fissure 8 and flow within the established channel to the ocean. No channel overflows were observed during this morning's overflight.

Halema'uma'u crater at 8:30 a.m., view is toward the south. Several benches are clearly visible within the crater.

USGS Hydrologic Technician Kammy Durham measuring discharge of Elk Creek near Rapid City, SD (streamgage 06407500), to capture peak flow after heavy rains during the week of June 18, 2018. The flow at this streamgage was 81 cubic feet per second on June 21, 2018.