Images

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.

USGS Hydrologic Technician Kammy Durham measuring discharge of Spring Creek near Keystone, SD (streamgage 06407500), to capture peak flow after heavy rains during the week of June 18, 2018. The flow at this streamgage was 69 cubic feet per second on June 21, 2018.

Early morning view of the ocean entry. The lava fountain from fissure 8 is visible behind the laze plume rising from the entry point. The open lava flowchannel is visible just beyond the solidified darker flows in the foreground.

Fissure 8 continues building a tephra cone and producing a robust channelized lava flow on Kīlauea Volcano's Lower East Rift Zone.

The USGS UAS (unoccupied aircraft system) team took this photograph of Halema‘uma‘u Crater from the Kīlauea Overlook on this morning. They are preparing for a flight to map further subsidence at the summit.

At a wide point in the channelized lava flow, a ropy crust has formed over the more fluid lava below.

Bar chart showing use of water in 2015, by state and category of use

On June 20, 2018, hydrologic technician Kammy Durham measured a discharge of 209 cubic feet per second on Whitewood Creek above Whitewood, SD (streamgage 06436180) after the watershed received about 2 inches of rain the previous evening. Streams in the Black Hills of western South Dakota can rise and fall quickly in response to rain.

Geologist makes early morning observations of the lava fountain and channelized flow at fissure 8 in Leilani Estates.

Fissure 8 lava fountains reached as high as about 50 m (164 ft) during the past day.